


Howling in the Moonlight (Season 7)

by NekoAliceYamiYaoi



Series: Howling in the Moonlight [7]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Gally and Aris are together but the pack doesn't know, I know we're in June but please endure it!, M/M, Magic-Users, Movies references, Mythology References, References to page 250, Supernatural Elements, The last two chapters will come out on December, Theo and Brennan are together too, Werewolf!Thomas, angst & fluff, banshee!teresa, dragon!brennan, dragon!gally, in this season we're on December, it's a blue Christmas guys, minor deaths, seer!minho, still slow burn for Minresa but I'll do my best so you can start feeling them, vampire!Alec, vampire!rey, werewolf!Theo, witch!aris, witch!newt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 50,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAliceYamiYaoi/pseuds/NekoAliceYamiYaoi
Summary: December is usually associated with a joyous and loving time —the most wonderful time of the year, they call it. Thomas and his pack thought that the only thing that they would have to worry about would be the exams before their Winter Break.Unluckily for them, the exams will not be the only thing they'll have to fear: a virus has spread over Beacon Hills but it only affects supernatural creatures.Thomas and the pack will have to find who's responsible for it, try to find a cure, and pray that they all make it out alive to see another year... literally.#STAYSAFE
Relationships: Gally & Brennan Castellan, Gally/Aris Jones (Maze Runner), Minho & Thomas (Maze Runner), Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner), Teresa Agnes/Minho (Maze Runner), Theo Greyson/Brennan Castellan, Thomas & The Pack
Series: Howling in the Moonlight [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/556084
Comments: 74
Kudos: 59





	1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [waterisntreal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterisntreal/gifts), [gleek_runner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleek_runner/gifts).



> Do you know how hard it is to mainly only listen to Christmas songs IN MAY/JUNE?!..... Actually, it's not that hard and I'm actually liking it but also it might worry my family and so I told my sister "sorry if for the next weeks you catch me humming or singing a Christmas song, it's not because I'm losing it because of the quarantine, it's because in my fic it's set on December" and she was like "okay"
> 
> I wanted to get in the mood for this season (especially because where I'm from it's sooo hot right now!!!) and so, Christmas songs all the way!!
> 
> Anyways, um, thanks again for tunning for season 7!!!!! I hope that this season (although not split into 7A and 7B) will be of your like! I'm really really excited for this season and for the next one!!!! *super excited*

A man wearing a white lab coat walks through what appears to be a very expensive and high-tech laboratory as he heads to his work-space. The walls are covered in a sturdy semi-transparent plastic to maintain sterility, and what appears to be an isolation room has been created in the center of the room in a round shape. As the man, who is not only wearing the lab coat but also covered with a dark vinyl apron, walks past the isolation room, he avoids the thick ring of mountain ash that completely surrounds the small room.

The man sits down at his desk, which has a variety of different sized glass beakers and vials, all of which are filled with fluids of different colors, only to be interrupted by the sound of weak growling behind him. When he turns toward the source of the noise, he finds a fully-transformed male werewolf who has black blood pouring from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth grunting in pain as he reaches a clawed hand toward him. However, the werewolf is too weak to do anything else and ultimately falls quiet. The man, annoyed to have been distracted from his work, returns to what he was writing in a notebook, taking a sip of tea from a clear glass mug.

* * *

At Beacon Hills at night, Thomas and Newt were on the roof of Newt's house, cuddled together while watching the stars. A fuzzy blanket around Thomas' so he could use it to keep Newt and himself warm.

"The stars are beautiful tonight." Thomas comments.

"Yeah,"

The brunet looks at his boyfriend, "You know what else is beautiful?"

Newt smiles as he looks back, "Me?"

"Yes, I was gonna say that. Now you've ruined it." says Thomas in a teasing way, which makes Newt laugh.

The witch cuddles further into Thomas' body. His eyes start feeling droopy but he doesn't want to fall asleep just yet, he wants to enjoy these moments because tomorrow they'll have to go to school and ugh, tests are coming.

"Tommy."

"Mm?"

"If I fall asleep, can you still hold me?"

"Don't worry, even if we both fall asleep I'll still be holding you even if we roll and fall from the roof."

Newt, with his eyes closed, smiles, "Tommy, that would've been romantic if it hadn't ended with the possibility of us falling from the roof."

"I know."

On the other side of Beacon Hills, at the mansion, Brennan was carefully walking down the stairs with his shoes on his hand to not make any sound. Gally and Aris were both sleeping, and he wanted to keep it that way. Not only did they had to go to school tomorrow, but also he was currently attempting to sneak out of the mansion to go and see Theo. Since the whole incident almost two weeks ago, they hadn't really had time to spend together. Sure, movie nights but in pack. That wasn't the same, although he loves the pack. And tonight he had the perfect timing because Gally said that he would go to bed early because he had to study for some tests they were gonna have that week.

Brennan reached the last step and slowly made his way to the kitchen on his tip-toes to open the sliding-door and leave through that way; he manages to slide the door a little bit except he wasn't counting on finding Aris standing over the entrance of the kitchen with his hands on his hips.

"Are you sneaking in or sneaking out?"

"...Both?"

Aris rolls his eyes as he approaches the younger one, "First you should remember that your brother makes me put up the wards every night in case someone or something wants to get it. So you're lucky I was here in the right moment to take them down."

"Thanks." Brennan sits on the floor and puts on his shoes.

"So... Are you going to go and see Theo at his house?" Aris says while wiggling his eyebrows, obviously implying something else.

Brennan seems confused for a moment but then downs on him and he blushes, "N-No! No, no! Nothing like that! We're just gonna watch a movie!"

"Oh, so that's what the youth is calling it right now."

Brennan groans, "Aris, please, not now." he huffs, "Look, I swear we're not gonna do anything."

"I don't care if you do anything with him. For what me concerns, you can ride him 'till tomorrow."

"Aris!"

"But I do understand that your brother apparently doesn't know that you're currently together, so you don't want him to go all 'big bear brother', amma right?"

"Yes,"

"Don't worry. Go and have fun, but not too much." he winks.

"Seriously, bless my brother's soul for having to put up with you."

And with that, Brennan leaves the mansion.

Aris walks towards the sliding-door and closes it, putting up the wards again,

"Yes, bless him."

Aris goes upstairs and to Gally's room; the dragon was currently sleeping without a shirt because apparently, he is his own personal heater, so there's no needs for quilts or shirts on chilly nights like these.

The witch, after closing the door, slowly makes his way to the bed and slides in it, lying face to face with the other occupant of the bed. Gally, although now awake, kept his eyes closed.

"What are you doing? Brennan is right next door." he warns.

"Brennan is at a sleepover with his friend Quinn."

Gally opens one eye to look at him, "Really?"

"Yep, left minutes ago."

"Then why there are clothes still on?"

Aris laughs as Gally turns so he's on top of him and starts kissing his neck.

* * *

The next morning at school, Thomas was standing in front of his locker, checking his calendar while taking out his books when he caught the scent of his best friend leaning against the locker beside his.

"Ugh, I couldn't sleep last night. Besides from the fact that Judge was chasing a lizard all around my room at midnight, and that I was studying for the tests, I also had this weird dream where I was wearing a fruit hat and dancing to some exotic music."

Thomas looks at him, "And what does that mean?"

Minho groans, "I don't know, man. I think it has to do with the fact that Kira was watching The Three Caballeros last night while I was snoozing in the couch."

"Let's hope." Thomas mocks as he closes his locker.

"Let's hope what?" Teresa asks as she approaches them, books pressed against her chest.

"That Minho's dream about himself wearing a fruit hat has to do with the fact that his sister was watching The Tree Caballeros."

Teresa frowns, "But that's Aurora Miranda, not Carmen Miranda."

"Carmen Miranda! I knew I recognized that fruit hat!" Minho suddenly yells.

Thomas and Teresa stare at him, "Let's hope he doesn't dream everything he watches on TV."

"Let's hope." she answers.

The bell rings and three of them walk towards their respective classes.

Teresa enters her class and she goes to sit beside Rey, who was already sitting on her seat near the window at the back of the classroom. Teresa offers her a smile and decides to chat a little as they wait for their teacher.

"Hey,"

Rey, who had her head resting on top of a book, facing away from Teresa, manages to say "Hey."

"Are you alright?"

Rey rolls her head to face the blue-eyed girl, "I was up all night studying for these stupid tests. Not my first night staying up but now I also have to be awake during the day. Ughh, not the best."

"Don't worry about the tests, I'm sure you're going to do great."

"Yeah... Let's hope."

Teresa smiles. The teacher enters the classroom and as she starts explaining the class what they're going to be doing for that hour, Teresa puts an open book in front of Rey so that the teacher doesn't notice that she's resting.

* * *

At lunch, Newt was sitting outside the cafeteria, over the tables out in the open while enjoying his lunch and waiting for the others when he sees Aris approaching him.

The brunet witch reaches the table, puts down his tray and holds out his cuffed wrist,

"Can you please do me a favor and take this off? I can't endure it more!" he whines.

Newt gently grabs the cuff and takes it off of Aris' wrist, and the witch lets out a moan as he rubs his wrist. He moves his hand experimentally, fingers twitching as sparks of green appear momentarily before he sits down.

"Ohh, now that's better."

"Again with your leash? I thought you were over that."

"Oh no, unfortunately you will be seeing more of my leash these days. After what happened with Theo and the knights, I'm trying to be more responsible and in case any knight appears snooping around, they won't catch me without this. No more troubles for a while, please."

" _'No more troubles'_? I thought you were troubles." says a voice behind them.

Aris rolls his eyes, "But of course that's how I'm gonna start this day." he turns to look at his side as Theo sits beside him, offering him a smirk. "Don't you have to be a jerk anywhere else?"

"Not until four."

Newt looks between them as they continue their banter and chuckles lightly, but the werewolf hears it and he turns to see Newt with a small smile while looking down at his food.

"What?"

Newt looks up, "Oh, nothing, I was just wondering."

"Wondering what?" Aris asks.

"How you manage to keep a poker face after all that flirting."

There's silence. Complete and void silence. Both Theo and Aris are staring at the blond, but it's only Aris the one who blinks a few times, tilts his head a little to the right while still staring at the witch,

"What."

"You know, acting like you don't tolerate each other to hide the fact that you want to make out?"

"What?"

"I mean, I'm not judging or anything, I just find it-"

_"WHAT?!"_ Aris yells in a high-pitch tone after practically jumping out of his seat, face completely red and fuming, "You think that this mutt and I are... are...! Ohmygod, I can't even _say it_ , it's so gross I can't even say it."

"Like you've never-"

"Not with HIM!" he says while pointing at Theo, who was calmly eating his food.

"Hey, 'him' can perfectly hear you, thank you very much."

"Didn't you just heard him?!"

"Yeah?"

Aris looks like he's about to combust, "Aren't you disgusted that he thinks that you and I are involved?"

"I have eyes, Aris, and I'm mature enough to admit that although I do find your personality appalling, I do find you quite attractive." he wipes his hands, "Like, for example, I'm mature enough to admit that Newt is extremely pleasant to my eyes but I would never try anything more because one: I consider him my friend and I respect him, and two: I like my eyes where they are, which will not be the case if Thomas ever hears me talking to his boyfriend like that."

"But-but-but-"

"Come on, don't tell me you don't think Theo is attractive even if you're not attracted to him?"

"I mean, I guess!"

Theo grins, "Unless there's another reason why you're so adamant about the idea of us?" That fucking werewolf!

Aris stares at the two of them like a fish out of water, gaping while trying to find the right words, or just any words to save this conversation and of course karma is really a nasty bitch because that's just the perfect timing for Gally to walk towards them while holding a tray,

"Hey, guys, what'cha talking about?"

Aris quickly turns around to face Gally and the taller male looks at the witch's full-red face, wild wide eyes and mouth hanging open.

Before he can even ask what's going on, Aris' eyes widen a little bit more and he grabs his soda and runs away from the place.

"What just happened?"

"I'm not quite sure." Newt answers while Theo continues eating, a smirk over his lips as he looks away.

* * *

Over Alec's apartment, the vampire stepped outside of his room wearing a teal green tank top and loose boxers and his slippers. He walks through the hall to reach the open area and looks around the apartment while ruffling the mess he calls hair.

Today was his day off and he decided that he needed some rest, so he just recently woke up. No big deal, adults can sleep 'till late. He looks at the time:

12:36.

Rey won't be home for another hour, so he still has some time alone. Not that he doesn't like to spend time with Rey; he loves her. She's so awkward and accretive at the same time, and Alec finds it cute. He does like spending time with her, whether when they're having a movie marathon on Fridays, or when she decided to tag along when he needs to do the shopping, or when she needs help with her homework, he's more than happy to help.

And after what he's been thinking the last few weeks, he's so sure that spending time with Rey is one of his favorite things to do.

But hey, this was his day off, so how come there are so many dishes and spots and papers everywhere?!

Alec sighs. There's no other option but to clean up the apartment, but if he's going to do this, then he's gonna do it the right way. He walks towards the shelf in the living room where his old radio is and pushes the button; ([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h80T0WyAa0)) soon, music starts playing and Alec smiles at the song choice and begins moving his head to the rhythm. There's no better way to do your chores than with music.

Alec puts on his rubber yellow gloves and grabs the cleaning cloth from the table and begins cleaning the kitchen. He starts with the interior of the microwave and when he's done, he sprays the outside and rubs it until it shines.

He continues with the counter, wiping the small droplets of dried blood on it. He then moves to the stove, spraying some citrus stove cleaner and scrubbing the dirt with a stiff brush along the rhythm of the music. With a blue sponge, he removes the bubbles and pours some water before drying it with another rag.

With the same blue sponge, he cleans and wipes the platinum sink until it shines. He grabs with disgust the remains of the food that got stuck on the sink and throws them in the garbage, making a face while doing so.

Soon afterward, he's in the living room, kneading and plumping the cushions while tapping his foot to the song. He places the cushion on its place, a rainbow feather duster hanging from his wrist, before he jumps onto the couch, spreading his arms wide.

**_Then jump_ **

**_For my love_ **

**_Jump in_ **

He jumps from the couch and starts moving like a crab from one side to the other while still holding the feather duster in his hand.

He twirls around before grabbing the broom and 'allowing it' to lead him forward.

**_Jump, I know my heart can make you happy_ **

Alec starts sweeping the floor while moving his hips, making exaggerated moves with the broom before dropping it to the floor and jumping around the living room with his eyes closed. He felt so relaxed doing the chores in his way. With his foot, he picks the broom back up to starts sweeping the hall that leads to the rooms.

Alec reaches the room and quickly sweeps Rey's room, trying to not be too intruding -although to be fair, he's cleaning her room, so she can't complain-; he also uses the feather duster to clean the curtains and the dust off.

Once he's done with her room, he moves to his. Okay, _here_ he can work. He knows what to touch and whatnot. Moving around the room, singing as he moves the broom, and at the end he's done with his room.

Alec goes back to the main area, still holding the broom, and is able to hear the song much better than when he was inside the rooms.

He starts shaking again with the need to dance and that's exactly what he's gonna do. Holding the broom tighter, he climbs the couch.

**_Then jump_ **

**_For my love_ **

**_Jump in_ **

And he jumps down, moving his arms like crazy and twirling around, his hips were moving like they had their own life. He's so occupied in 'cleaning' that he doesn't notice that Rey had already arrived from school.

She was standing over the entrance, holding Chairman Meow so that they were both watching Alec dance around the apartment.

"Do you think we should tell him?" Rey asks the cat.

Alec, turning around and seeing her, drops the broom, feeling a little embarrassed to be found like that.

"Honey! You're home!" he says in a high-pitch voice. Okay, he's still excited for the dancing, let's cool down.

"So are you." Rey puts down the cat and walks towards the kitchen as Alec goes to turn down the volume of the music. The vampire girl opens the fridge and decides to grab the deep blue thermos.

Alec stays outside the area of the kitchen, watching as the girl takes a big gulp from the thermos.

"So, how was school?"

"Tiring."

"How so?"

Rey turns around to look for a napkin to wipe the corner of her lips, "I fell asleep in two classes."

Worried, Alec moves closer, "Is it because of the exams? Oh, Rey, don't worry about them. You've been studying so hard, I'm sure you'll do just fine."

Frustrated, the girl turns around, "What do you know? You're a seer now? You can tell me for sure that I won't fail in any of them?"

Alec takes a step back as if offered some garlic. The two of them stare at each other before Rey huffs and walks past Alec, going to her room and closing the door behind her.

The music continues to play in the background but suddenly Alec doesn't feel like continuing dancing or doing chores, so he walks towards the shelf and turns off the music.

* * *

The school bell rang and everyone was out like a thunder, students and teachers equally. Each member of the pack went to their respective vehicles and left, and so, the school was quickly emptying.

It's been minutes since the bell rang but Aris stayed in his position, hiding like he's been doing since lunch.

Aris was sitting on the ground with his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms around his legs to hold them in place, not because he was hugging himself, and his face was hiding in the hollow space between his chest and legs. He stayed there in that position for a while until he heard some steps but he didn't bother to raise his head or move at all. The steps were getting closer and when they reached him, Aris could feel as they opted to stand beside him rather than talk directly.

Silence. It was like that for maybe a minute before Aris realized who it probably was and that did not make this situation better; his hunch was proved correct when a hand held out his cuff, followed by a familiar voice,

"You forgot this at lunch."

Aris doesn't say much as he grabs the cuff from Gally's hand without meeting his eyes. Gally doesn't say anything.

The witch moves his head so he can stare at the knight's shoes and although he isn't looking, he knows that Gally is now staring at him.

"Wanna tell me what that was about?"

"Nothing, just Theo being Theo."

Which, he supposes, it's true. Theo being a jerk without a bite and him being a drama queen.

They were back at silence. Gally could wait, he wasn't gonna pressure Aris into talk to him, even if that meant waiting here for hours although it wasn't the most optimal situation.

"I'm not used to this."

Gally, surprised that the witch actually decided to speak, and speak first, dares to look down.

"Relationships. I'm not used to them, to being in one. Sure, I've been with many people but they were never anything serious, or I never felt like that about them."

"Are you saying that you feel like that about me?"

Aris whines, "I don't know, maybe! I-I don't know yet, which is why I don't know what to think and sometimes I overthink things and that makes me angrier which is stupid because-"

Gally holds a hand to stop his rambling. As the brunet calms down, it's Gally's turn to speak,

"Okay. So, you've never had strong feelings for your past partners but you do with me, but also you don't know if it really is _that_ strong to call it by its name but you know it's there." he shrugs calmly, "That's enough for me."

Aris can feel the pressure he kept on his legs because of his arms relax. "...Really?" he asks finally looking up.

"Aris, I am not going to ask something from you if you're not ready. You feel something for me that's stronger than you've ever felt for anyone else? I call that a winning."

The witch continues staring at him, not knowing what else to say, and so does Gally. But he doesn't need words.

Gally offers him a hand to help him up and Aris accepts it; he's brought back on his feet and facing the tall teen.

They stay like that for another minute before Gally nods and silently tells him that they should be going. Aris agrees and the two of them walk back to the school entrance so they can leave in Gally's truck.

While walking, Aris notices that Gally was carrying not only his backpack but also Aris' satchel. Aris smiles, feeling something stir in his chest, and takes Gally's hand, intertwining their fingers as they walk towards the exit.

What they don't know or see is the figure hiding in the shadows, watching Gally and Aris climb the truck and drive away. The figure steps out and takes a look at the school before disappearing into the dark.

* * *

At night over Thomas' house, he and Minho were studying for the exams they were gonna have a week before Winter Break, which means next week. They all were nervous, of course, because if you didn't pass one, you will have to take another during Winter Break, and that's not funny. Not during Holidays.

Minho was lounging over the bed while Thomas sat in his computer chair with papers that he was currently checking while Minho checked his. They were going through a mock-test just to see how bad they were or if they were pretty decent.

"Okay, dude, what'd you got for number seven?" Minho asked.

"I got Waterloo."

_"This is a math test, Thomas!"_

Thomas looks between the sheets they were supposed to be studying and the ones he studied and he groans. He mixed them up.

"Nope, I can't. No more, please!" he throws the papers down on the floor and sits up with his legs up and hugs them.

"Sorry Tommy-boy, but I want all of us available during Winter Break and that only will be accomplished if you pass all your exams."

Thomas sighs, head down. "I know."

Thomas also wants that. He wants his pack to pass their exams and then Winter Break.

"And if you wanted to know, your answer was correct in the History test."

Thomas smiles before throwing a pillow at his best friend.

* * *

The next day at the sheriff's station over the lounge area, Alec was pouring himself some coffee because he forgot to bring his thermos filled with blood and he was thirsty. He didn't sleep so well last night thinking about Rey and the decision he had decided to take. And since he didn't sleep well, he was kinda dipsy in the kitchen when he had to go to work and accidentally forgot his thermos at home.

As he poured it over his cup, someone broader stood beside him,

"Wow, did you not get the concept of 'day off'?" Dick asks.

"Oh no, I did rest."

"Then what are those?" he asks while pointing at Alec's face, meaning the obvious bags under his eyes.

"It's from something else."

Dick leans against the wall, facing the brunet and waits. Alec, knowing how stubborn this man is and that he won't let it go that easily, sighs and decides to tell him. He can trust in Dick.

Looking around and making sure that there was no one around that could hear their conversation, he turns back to Dick,

"Dick, a few months ago I looked into adopting Rey."

Dick, no exactly expecting that but good news either ways, smiles, "That's great."

"They turned me down."

The smile slowly slips off the agent's face, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm single. I don't have an extended family support system. I work all hours. They didn't see me as prime parent material."

Dick stares at him, not liking any seeing the young man look so down, "They're wrong." he states. "And stupid. You're her only living relative, right? That should be enough."

Alec shrugs.

"And what did Rey say?"

Alec flushes a little, "I, uh, I actually haven't ask her."

"So you're planning on adopting her and you haven't told her? Why?"

"Because there hasn't been the right timing! Just yesterday I asked her about school and she lashed at me."

"That's a teenager being a teenager. They're moody all the time, that's their thing. I'm sure she didn't mean to."

Alec shrugs, not so sure of that.

"Look, once she comes back from school why don't you two talk? It'll be good to sit down and talk like the adults you are. And I expect the talk to end well because you can't come to work looking like the walking dead."

_'If only you knew, dear.'_

Alec offers him a smile, "Thanks, I'll try."

Dick pats his back but his hand lingers for more than a moment. Then, the pressure is gone and Dick walks out of the lounge room.

Alec stays there, bringing a hand to touch the place where those big and warm hands had touched.

* * *

Thomas was over History class, sitting and waiting for the teacher to appear. It's been five minutes since the bell rang and no one has appeared yet. The other students were -while sitting over their seats- talking between each other, and Thomas really wished that there was someone from his pack right now in this class so he wasn't so bored. Just as he started to lean back and actually consider snoozing a little bit, he was startled -like the other students- when the door opened and they saw Miss Romero entering the classroom, accompanied by a stranger man.

"Okay, guys, listen up. Since one of our teachers got sick and the other is pregnant, we're gonna need some help with the exams. Fortunately we managed to hire a temporary teacher to help us help you prepare for the exams."

The man from before steps forward as he's being introduced.

"This is Mr. Warren McKenna."

The man -- nods at them, "Nice to meet you."

While some students were commenting about the teacher and others were complaining that they were actually gonna have class right now, Thomas couldn't help but to stare at the man in front of them. He couldn't tell what, but there was something that was different about this man, something that made Thomas' instincts be in alert.

* * *

The bell rang and it was time for the next class. Thomas left the classroom, book in hand, and went to his locker. As he opened it and put back his book, Minho approached him.

"Hey, Thomas. You alright, man? You look a little tense."

"Yeah, it's just," he shrugs, "The new substitute."

"What, he bad at teaching?"

"No, no. I- I don't know, I got a bad feeling when looking at him, that's all."

Minho gets closer and speaks lower, "Do you think he may be...?"

"What, supernatural? No, no. I don't think so. I just... I don't know, he seemed weird."

"Thomas, we all are weird."

Teresa approached them in that moment,

"A sub came today."

Thomas turned to her, closing his locker, "Really?"

"Yeah, miss Deavor. She seems nice. And she actually answers questions, so that's a good sign."

"Of what?"

"That we'll actually learn something."

Minho snorts and the bell rings.

"Come on, you weirdos. We don't wanna be late to class." Minho says as he puts his arms around Thomas and Teresa's shoulders and they walk towards the same classroom.

* * *

After school, Rey arrived home and after a while she and Alec sat down to have dinner. Although at first when she said that she was gonna eat in her room, Alec told her that he needed to tell her something important and that they should sit on the table to eat this time. She reluctantly agreed, even if it meant her plans for eating while studying were ruined.

Alec was in the kitchen, pouring the stakes in their plates while Rey sat on the table, looking down at Chairman Meow as he purred against her leg.

"Okay, here you go~" Alec placed the plate in front of her and then his, across her. He grabbed her glass filled with blood and held it for her, "Here,"

Rey grabbed the glass, "So what was that that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Alec stilled a little but sat down nonetheless. He felt nervous and didn't know where or how to start this conversation, but he was sure that they had to have it now before he moved forward.

"Well, it's something quite important, actually." he takes a sip from his own drink.

"So important that you couldn't wait until I finished my homework or to talk later? Because I have exams next week, remember?"

Alec looks at her and puts the glass down, "Oh, Rey, I told you that you'll do fine in the exams. You're a very smart girl and you're capable of anything you set your mind on, you know that."

"Is this what this is?" she asks, "You telling me how smart I am and how I shouldn't worry about the exams? Because if this was what you wanted to talk to me about, then you can just save it for another day, I'm busy right now-"

"Rey, no, that's not it. I mean, sure, I do mean those things and I'm sure that you'll be okay-"

"Well, aren't you so certain about it?!" she raises her voice, and startling Alec and the cat runs to the kitchen, "How do you know? Are you gonna do my exams for me?"

"I just don't understand what's the big deal with this! It's just some exams! Sure, grades are important but it's not the end of the world if you get a bad note, but I'm telling you that you're gonna be fine!" Alec also raises his voice.

Rey rolls her eyes and Alec frowns.

"Hey, don't you roll your eyes at me, missy! Don't be rude while I'm talking to you!"

"Alec, calm down, geez, it's not like you were my dad or something!"

Suddenly, Alec looks like he's just been slapped across the face, all the fight and anger vanishing from his face.

Rey doesn't seem to notice just how deep her words were, and especially how they would affect right now.

"Yeah... You're right." suddenly feeling defeated, he looks down at his plate and makes a face, "Um, I'm not really very hungry right now, so I'll just..."

Alec doesn't finish what he's saying, he just stands up from his chair and walks around the table to go towards his room, making his way silently through the hallway.

Chairman Meow follows him but the door closes before he can enter the vampire's room. He sits outside in the hallway, tilting his head while waiting for Alec to notice that he left him outside.

The door didn't open that night.

* * *

At the mansion, Gally was over his room with the door closed while Aris was over his vault. Brennan, coming out of his shower already dressed in comfy pajamas, walks towards the vault and peeks inside. He watches as Aris was standing behind the counter, holding a vial filled with a blue liquid and on the other hand was something purple and circular. He drops two of the balls inside the vial with extra care before Brennan knocks on the door.

"Shouldn't you be studying like Gally?"

"Unlike your brother, I possess vast knowledge in many areas and I don't need to bother with mundane things like study."

Brennan suddenly sniffs the air, "Is something burning?"

Aris' eyes widen, "Oh, no, my brownies!" and he runs out of the vault, running past Brennan and downstairs.

The younger dragon snorts with a small smile and he looks back inside the vault before entering to see what Aris was doing. He steps until he's standing behind the table. He stares at the vial that slowly started to boil and shake before it changed form: instead of a vial it slowly started to change into a small wooden box.

Brennan looks at it with wide eyes, surprised about what he just saw when he hears Aris' voice coming from downstairs.

_"Brennan, would you like some brownies?"_

"Uh, coming!"

Brennan looks back to see that the box is gone, now replaced by the vial once more and he frowns a little before leaving the vault.


	2. Blue Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the Christmas songs will start, so, you've been warned (hahaha). No, but seriously, it kinda feels weird to listen to Christmas songs while on June but meh, who cares, right? So, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the ones to follow!! I'll try to do my best!!

At the sheriff's station, Alec was drinking his blood from his thermos, sitting down in the table to rest a little because he had been feeling dizzy since the other day and he has no idea why. He's been drinking extra blood just in case. Maybe it's the whole fight with Rey, that totally exhausted him and maybe that's why he's been feeling down.

A newspaper plops down on the table and startles Alec, who looks up to see the owner of the paper,

"You don't look so good." Dick says as he moves to make his coffee.

"Is that what you tell your one-night-only conquests?"

"Wha- no. I'm classier than that." Alec rolls his eyes, "And don't change the subject. I mean it, you look ill."

"That's ridiculous, I never get ill because-" he stops himself from saying what he was gonna say. He was about to say that he doesn't get sick never because he's a vampire and vampires don't get sick.

Dick continues pouring the coffee into his cup, "Because...?"

"Because I'm extra careful with my health, unlike other persons, and I haven't been sick for a while. So there, that's why I'm not sick."

"If you say so, but seriously, Alec," he turns around the table so he's standing beside Alec, who turns to look at him, "Take care, alright?"

Alec nods and the man leaves. Alec looks down at his thermos and continues drinking.

* * *

([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8NcQzMQN_U)) At school, one of the students was playing "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano over his phone at top volume, the song playing in the hallways as Thomas took out his books from his locker and setting the mood. Because of the cold, Thomas was wearing a comfy olive-green jacket zipped up to his neck, and he would've used gloves and a beanie if it weren't because he couldn't find them in the morning.

He saw Aris walk towards him while glaring at the guy whose phone was playing the song.

"Can you believe they're playing Christmas songs this early?" he huffs, "If it weren't for _this_ ," he holds his cuffed wrist up, "his phone would've already exploded. I mean, who is so simple-minded to actually like it?"

And just in that exact moment -and at the song's chorus-, Minho appeared in the hallways, dancing and singing along while approaching Thomas and Aris. He twirled his way towards the lockers, stopping to face his friends with a big smile.

"Merry Christmas, everybody!" Minho exclaims.

"It's the first week of December." Aris states coldly.

"Now we know that the Grinch isn't the only green thing this holiday." Theo comments as he approaches them.

Aris only glares at him and soon notices the jacket and the gloves the werewolf was wearing.

"Is the little wolf perhaps a little cold?" he teases with a sing-song tone and a smirk at the end.

Theo only smirks back.

"I know, right!" Minho says, "I can't believe it's actually cold! I mean, sure, it snowed last year but that was because of some supernatural shit. Now it's actually starting to snow in December!" he exclaimed with excitement, "A white Christmas, dude!"

Minho turns around in search for the place where the music was playing and when he found it, he yelled

"Dude, play it higher!"

_"It's already at its highest!"_

"I can sing louder than _that_!"

Thomas pats Minho's back, smiling at his best friend's antics and as he closes his locker he soon watches as his boyfriend approaches them.

Newt was wearing dark wash floral skinny jeans and a loose-knit sweater in light gray, his outfit making him look somehow soft and warm, holding onto the strap of his satchel.

"Hey, guys."

Thomas smiles tenderly at him, "Hey." they close the distance to kiss.

Minho makes a noise, "Oh no, they're going at it and there's not even a mistletoe hanging." his eyes widen when he realizes something, "Oh no, the mistletoe!" and he runs away and back from the direction he came in.

Thomas and Newt chuckle while watching him leave and, while holding hands, they decide to walk through the hallway to go to class.

Once they're out of hearing reach, Theo turns to Aris,

"If you make this jacket stay warm during the whole day, I'll make the music stop."

Aris quickly holds his hand out for the werewolf to remove the cuff and after he does so, he touches the shoulder of the jacket. His hand glows green for two seconds before removing his hand, allowing the werewolf to feel the warmth of it.

Theo grins before turning around and walking towards the Christmas guy who was making his way towards the bathrooms. The guy enters the bathroom, followed by Theo, and moments later a 'DUDE!' is heard before the song abruptly -and comically- ends.

The bell rings and Theo comes out of the bathroom moments later with a smug smile, looking at Aris' direction before taking a little bow,

"Merry Christmas~" and turns to leave.

Aris laughs and puts his cuff back on.

* * *

Over math class, half class was struggling with understanding what the teacher wrote on the board meanwhile Teresa was writing down the formulas perfectly as the teacher explained them. She was sure that those were definitely going to be in the test, and although she knew she could do it, she was having her doubts about Minho and Rey; they usually understood it when they studied from Teresa's notebook. And those two needed all the help in math, seriously.

As she continued writing over her notebook, the girl beside her sneezed, covering her nose and mouth with her hands and staying like that after a moment.

Teresa, having noticed, takes out a tissue and offers it to the girl, who thankfully accepts it to wipe her nose, smiling at Teresa after doing so.

Teresa smiles back and turns to face the board to continue taking notes when she hears another sneeze. She quickly turns back to the class but doesn't see anyone hunched over or wiping their nose. Like nobody had sneezed. A confused frown crosses her face as she continues to stare but no one moves.

Was she imagining things or somebody actually sneezed and pretended not to? Why would that be the case? _'It's not like they would actually annoy anyone in this class, that's for sure.'_

The raven-haired girl then hears a noise but doesn't know where it comes from, so she blinks a couple of times before shutting her eyes closed and counts to five. After reaching five, she hears another cough and opens her eyes, coming back to the classroom only to realize that the room was emptying, the teacher no longer there and the same with the students.

The same girl from before was standing beside her with her bag over her shoulder and staring at Teresa, and the blue-eyed girl realizes that she's been told something.

"What?"

"Thank you for the tissue."

"Oh," Teresa nods, "Y-You're welcome."

The girl nods back, raising an eyebrow at the odd behavior of her classmate before turning around to leave.

Teresa stays in her seat, still not able to gather her things and move on to her next class, not liking the feeling over her chest.

* * *

Thomas was coming out of the bathroom, hurriedly making his way towards his next class as he was already running late, the empty halls a clear evidence of that, when he caught a scent.

Not the first time catching a scent in the school or anywhere else for that matter, but this time it was different. This scent made him abruptly stop mid-way in the halls.

Turning towards where the scent was coming from, Thomas slowly decided to follow his nose to wherever it would lead him, totally forgetting about his urgency to get to class.

His nose apparently led him to lab classroom, and any other time it would have bothered his werewolf senses but right now it wasn't chemicals he was smelling. He could perfectly tell that there were chemicals on the other side of the door but there was also something else... something familiar but at the same time his brain wouldn't cooperate and tell him what it was. His hand was about to reach for the knob and find out what it was, his senses telling him both to continue and to not go in there.

A throat being cleared startles him.

Thomas quickly turned around to face one of the substitute teachers, Mr. McKenna. The man was standing with both hands behind his back, posture rather stiff in contrast to his peaceful expression.

"Mr. Hawthorne, am I right?"

Thomas slowly nods.

"Well then, I'm pretty sure that your next class is not lab since the bell already rang and there's no one in there. So that tells me that you're unfortunately already running late to your current class." he lightly tilts his head to the left, "You wouldn't want to be late, would you, Mr. Hawthorne?"

"No, sir."

The teacher gives him what appears to be a forced smile, "Then, onwards you go."

Thomas stays in place for a few more seconds before walking away, looking back over his shoulder at the teacher to see him still standing in the same place, the man making a move with his hand to 'hurry' him away, and so Thomas continued until he went down the stairs.

Once the werewolf was gone the teacher's smile fell off his face, the man glancing at the lab room before turning around and walk back through the hall.

* * *

After school, Thomas decided to go to the station and ask Vince if he could check Mr. McKenna's background just in case his hunch was wrong. Probably Vince would tell him that he's overacting or that he's hypervigilant since everything that's happened to them -and who wouldn't be- but at the end he would do the check just to calm Thomas down.

Minho accompanied him, he was his ride since Newt had something else to do and couldn't drive him, and Minho, loyal as ever, offered himself. Now he's waiting over the car so they can go back to Minho's house and study again.

As Thomas entered the station and nodded at the deputy behind the receiver desk, he made his way towards Vince's office and noticed that it was empty. He was probably in the bathroom.

Thomas sat on top of one unoccupied desk and waited; while waiting, he looked around and something over the wall caught his attention. There was a new **'MISSING TEENAGER'** poster over the board. The guy looked like Thomas' age, maybe a year older, and he doesn't know why but his face kinda looks familiar.

His eyes stared at the poster a little longer than usual before a familiar voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Thomas?"

Thomas turns to see Alec holding some files and _whoa!_ Thomas felt a shiver going down his spine just by looking at Alec because, not to be rude to the scientist but he looked sick. For god's sake, he was a vampire and he looked even more pale than the usual! He had dark circles under his eyes, like when you haven't been getting a good night sleep or two.

"Alec, hey." he tried to act nonchalant, "How you've been?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Nothing serious."

"Really? Because, I don't wanna be rude but you look kinda... ill."

"Told you."

Alec rolls his eyes as Dick appears behind him, giving him a 'told you so' look. Thomas doesn't know what that means but Alec sure does.

"He's a kid, he doesn't know what he's saying."

"Hey!"

Alec turns to Thomas sheepishly, "Sorry, Thomas. It's just that Richard here has been on my back all day because he thinks I'm sick or something, and I already told him that I am not."

Thomas understands. Alec is a vampire, therefore he can't get sick. But no wonder why Stark thinks he's sick, he looks like it!

"He may be a kid, but he still has eyes, Alec."

Alec, furious that they're not listening to him, smashes the files on top of the nearest desk, the harsh noise startling some deputies but they ignore it and go back to their work.

Alec opens his mouth to say something, probably reproach them for their behavior, before he blinks a couple of times and stumbles a little. Alec's eyes roll in the back of his head and he's suddenly falling to the side and ready to meet the floor but Dick manages to catch him before that happens, everyone's worried eyes on him.

Thomas steps forward with worry, "Alec?"

"Alec?! _Alec!_ "

* * *

A couple minutes later, Alec was sitting on the edge of a bed, completely awake now, and looking at the three men that just entered the room.

"I said I'm fine. It was just low blood sugar."

They all seem relieved that it hadn't been anything serious and that he was awake now. A redhead nurse walks into the room with a blood pressure meter on hand, taking a spot beside Alec.

"Don't worry, your friend will be fine. Now, please, sir, let me check your pulse and-"

"NO!" yelled three persons -Thomas, Minho and Alec- at the same time. The nurse and Dick stared at them with a confused look.

Thomas starts, "Uhh, I mean, uhh..."

"I'm really fine." Alec says after Thomas' not so eloquent speech, "My head is not hurting, I can stand up by myself, there's no eerie sound in my ear, nor I feel nauseous or dizzy. I'm fine, really."

The nurse shrugs, and turns around to leave, muttering that she has another patient that do need attention.

"In fact, Dick, could I stay alone with Thomas and Minho for a moment?"

"Why?"

"I just... need to ask them something about Rey. You know what."

"The thing."

"Yes, the _thing._ "

Dick looks between the two teens before sighing, "Ok. If you need something, send one of these, ok?"

Alec nods and the older blond man leaves the room, the door closed behind him.

Thomas makes sure that the agent isn't listening to their conversation through the door; he hears footsteps walking away.

Once he turns around to face the vampire he frowns and asks "What thing?"

"There's no _'thing'_."

"But he said-"

"It was so he would leave the room."

"Ooh~ Clever." Minho says.

Thomas turns to Alec, "What happened? You really scared us back there."

"I, uh... I think I forgot to feed."

"You mean..."

Alec nods.

 _'Great. Fantastic!'_ Thomas thinks, "How are we going to find some blood you can drink?"

Minho shrugs, "We are in a hospital-"

"No." say both Thomas and Alec in a firm tone.

"But-"

"No, Min!"

"It's okay, Minho, really." reassures him Alec, "I just need to get home; I have food there."

"And how will you get rid of Sir-Muscles-Alot?" Minho asks, nodding at the direction of the door.

"He can drive me to my house and then drive you back to the station so you can get your car and go home."

"Alec, are you sure you're fine?" Thomas asks with total sincerity.

Alec offers him a smile, "Thomas, I assure you I'm great."

"But you don't look good. Even before you passed out, you had these dark circles under your eyes..."

Alec sighs and looks down at the floor, "I had a fight with Rey the other day and I've been having some trouble sleeping and it's always in my head, so I forget to feed."

"A fight? Is everything okay? Do you want me to talk to her or-"

"No, no, no! It's okay, Thomas, you don't have to do anything. This is between me and her. And we'll get through it, don't worry."

Thomas nods. Although he would like to talk more about the issue, they have to get Alec to his house so he can feed.

After leaving the hospital, Dick drove them to Alec's apartment, accompanying the brunet to the door while leaving Thomas and Minho in the car.

They reach the door and after Alec opens it and steps inside, he turns around, holding onto the door while facing the blond man.

"You sure you're alright? You don't need me to help you to your bedroom or anything?"

"I'm fine. I promise I'll go wash my teeth and rest."

Dick nods but neither of them moves. They also don't say anything else to say goodbye, they both just standing there, staring at each other before the moment is interrupted by Minho's voice,

"Hey, mister?" the Asian male calls out from inside the car, keeping his head out of the window, "I understand that you care and all but I have homework that's not going to do itself, so..."

Alec chuckles as Dick sternly turns to look at his car before sighing and looking back at Alec. Without anything else left to say, the blond man turns and walks towards his car, getting inside and starting the car.

Alec stays on the entryway, watching as the car drives away until it's gone, smiling down at the ground before closing the door.

* * *

After school, while Thomas and Minho went to the sheriff's station, the others went back to their houses.

Aris opens the door of the mansion, pushing aside the door and ready to drop his satchel on the couch when he notices the lights. Twinkling, bright and colorful lights all around the living room, plastic candy canes over a bowl in the coffee table, a lovely stair garland with lights, red ribbons around the pillars: Christmas decorations everywhere.

"Oh no, it's happening in here too."

From over the kitchen, Brennan steps into the living room, wiping the sweat off his forehead when he notices Aris and smiles.

"Aris! I'm glad you're here!" he turns to look back at his decorations and back at the witch, "Don't you like it?"

"Yeah, it's nice."

"But...?"

"It's not Christmas yet."

Theo chooses that moment to enter the mansion, coming behind Aris and stopping before furthering more, looking at the decorations and at the two guys standing there.

Aris quickly turns to him,

"I'll make you the same deal like at school if you do the same here."

"No deal." Theo walks towards where Brennan is and hugs him from behind.

"I'll make it colder in here."

"I have my own heat machine." he answers back with a smirk as he hugs Brennan to make his point clear.

Aris rolls his eyes.

Gally enters the mansion next, closing the door behind him since there was no one else to come and like Theo, he stops mid-way and looks around at the decorations.

"Hey, it looks nice." he says to his brother, who smiles in triumph.

Gally turns to look at Aris, who with his arms crossed over his chest at the apparent 'betrayal' and twisting his mouth in a pout, was also looking around the living room when he says

"Okay, it _does_ look nice." he admits; as Brennan goes to smile and thank him, the witch quickly interrupts him, "But stay off the kitchen, I have to eat there."

Gally chuckles and moves past them to get to the kitchen.

While Theo is still hugging him, Brennan innocently turns to him and glances up before looking into the werewolf's eyes,

"Oh, look, mistletoe."

Theo freezes. Brennan frowns at his reaction.

"Above you, you mutt." Aris says, still with his arms over his chest.

Theo slowly looks up and sees the traditional mistletoe hanging above them near the stairs and after taking a moment to look clearly at it, he sighs in relief.

"Oh, it's plastic."

Brennan's eyes widen, "Oh my god, I completely forgot. I swear I didn't do it with that intention, it was the first thing I hung and-"

Theo, feeling the blue-eyed teen panic in his arms, brings his face down and kisses him on the lips to shut him up... also because of the mistletoe.

They separate when they feel someone staring at them and turn to see Aris, still in his pouting pose, watching them.

"Do you want one too or...?" Theo teases.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be in the kitchen trying not to throw up."

Aris walks past them, hearing the light chuckle from them before reaching the kitchen to find it just like he left it before going to school, just some empty boxes on the floor.

Gally was closing the fridge after hearing him enter the kitchen and watches as the witch sits down on the counter,

"Well, at least he didn't reach the kitchen. There's no mistletoe or candy canes, or something like eggnog in the fridge."

Gally suddenly stays still, taking a quick glance back at the fridge before looking at the witch,

"You might not want to open the fridge."

* * *

Back at the station, Dick entered the building after making sure that Thomas and Minho drove away and towards the right direction.

He saw Vince inside his office from over the windows and walked towards there.

Knocking on the open door to have the older man's attention, Dick stood in place as Vince looked up from the papers he was reading.

"How's Alec doing?" Vince asks.

"He says he's fine. Maybe he'll just need a good time nap."

"Yeah."

Dick nods and changes the subject. "Still nothing on the missing kid?"

"His mother came again asking for any clues." Vince grimaces, "Wish I had anything to say to her to make her feel better."

"She'll be better once we find her son."

Vince nods, "Let's hope that." he doesn't further explains in saying if he meant that she'll be better or finding the son. Dick's not sure that he wants to know neither.

* * *

As night time fell, Teresa came out of her shower, steam coming out of the bathroom as she made her way towards her drawers, wrapped around a bathrobe and drying her hair with another towel.

As she opened the drawers to find her pajamas, she exhaled and felt a chilling breeze even though she just had a warm bath.

She turned around and saw her window was open, no wonder the cold. She walked towards the window, looking through it to the outside and felt the breeze chill her body. She stared at the outside for a little longer.

Teresa grabbed the window's frame and closed the window, staring at her reflection before exhaling again, warm puff of breath clashing against the glass and clouding it. Her reflection no longer visible.

* * *

([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QipqXel5G4g)) At the mansion, while Gally and Brennan were upstairs each in their rooms, Aris was downstairs, sitting over the kitchen counter and staring at the room. It looked rather dull in comparison of a certain part of the house, as the empty boxes in the corner mocked him. He glances back at the colorful and bright living room before looking back at the kitchen.

Over at the station, Vince was going to call it for today, picking up the papers over his desk when his phone rings. He answers it and after a moment of hearing the news on the other line, his face turns stern with the bad news of a body found in the park.

He steps out of his office in search for Dick, finally finding the blond man coming out of the lounge room.

**_And when those blue snowflakes start falling_ **

Back at the mansion, Aris continues to stare at the wall before making up his mind, making a big red velvet ribbon appear with magic, hanging on the top of the kitchen's entrance. Aris finds himself smiling about the silly thing.

Over the park, red and blue police lights were lighting the now-cordoned off area near the bushes, the deputies trying to keep the passers-by behind the police tape and away from the area.

Vince walks towards where Dick is already waiting for him, standing over the white sheet near the bushes. Vince stands beside him, looking down at the sheet covering the body on the ground.

An ominous silence fills the air.

Somewhere not too far from there, a girl whose face couldn't be seen was crawling in the hard ground of a room, trying to reach the door.

The two share a look before Vince crouches and reaches for the sheet, gently removing it to see the body.

He sighs, breath visible because of the cold air, looking up at Dick who grimaces at him, unfortunately confirming what he thought it was: underneath the sheet lied the body of the missing teenage boy, strange black-like veins protruding from his face and down his neck.

Back at the strange place, a pair of brown shoes appear in front of the unmoving girl at the entryway, her stretched-forward hand showing the same black veins like the guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs that appeared in this chapter are:  
> -Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano  
> -Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
> 
> Hope you like this kinda slow pace because I'm gonna try to build it up till two chapters later when everything bum, happens. I don't know if that makes sense.


	3. Perishable

At the hospital at night, many nurses and doctors were moving quite chaotically that night. Nurses were helping patients into wheeling chairs because they couldn't take two steps before tumbling down and throwing up. The ER doctors making a quick check and writing down their notes.

Over the counter, Mary was answering a phone call, writing everything down when she sees a fellow nurse helping a middle-age man that had a barf stain over his shirt and some drool coming down his chin walk. It seemed that she was having a little trouble.

"Another mistletoe poisoning?" Mary asks as she hangs up.

"Yes."

As Mary moves to help her with the patient, the nurse shakes her in disbelief, "It's the fourth this week. I can't believe people actually eat this."

Mary chuckles, "Oh, you wouldn't believe how many people think that hanging the mistletoe between them and their partner and then biting through the mistletoe to kiss is a good idea."

The other nurse also laughs as they both manage to get the man into a wheelchair so the nurse can take him to a bed and have his stomach pumped.

As she wheels the man away and into the elevator, she turns to calls over her shoulder, "Hey, how are those men of yours? Thomas and Vince?"

"They're fine!"

The nurse smiles as the doors close.

"They're fine." Mary repeats, although this time not so sure.

* * *

Even before the sun came out, a female runner was jogging down the sidewalk. She had her blonde hair tied in a ponytail and was clad in exercise clothes. After running for a while, she came to a stop and rested her hands over her knees as she took air. She checks her TomTom Runner around her wrist and before she continued with her running, she finds a five-dollar bill on the street. Right in front of her.

She looks around to see if no one was looking and decided to pick it up. She looked at it and noticed it was in a good state. Maybe it fell from someone's pocket. Then her eyes found another bill a couple of meters away from the one she picked. She goes to pick up that one as well, this time it was a $10. After seeing that no one was going to claim the dollars, she picked it up as well and decided to see if she had any more luck and maybe there were more money on her path.

She slowly continued her path over the sidewalk and apparently some dollars -one dollar- were being blown coming from the inside of an alley.

She really hadn't noticed that the money was coming from the alley until she picked up another dollar but this one had something on it. She looked at her hands and rubbed her fingers together and finally saw her red stained fingers.

Blood.

She stops right there and covers her mouth, saying _'oh my god'_. Disgusted, she drops the dollar and watches as it floats away by the wind. Her eyes move to the alley and a dreading feeling coil inside her belly. She gulps hard and takes slowly steps towards the alley, trying to keep her already hard breathing in check.

The runner enters the alley and sees a semi-open wallet on the entrance, the money apparently coming from it. Then, she follows the pooling blood on the concrete and looks up to find a teenager girl's body propped on top of one of the trashcans; she had her neck, arms and face covered in black veins, and from the look of it, her stomach was slashed and was drenched in blood, her eyes still open.

The runner stares at it in horror and she screams in fear.

* * *

Half hour later the police had cordoned off the area. People had already heard what happened and saw the sirens, so they obviously came to see what was it about this time. Deputies tried to maintain order, making sure no one crossed the line.

Vince arrived and parked his car, getting out of it and walking towards the crime scene. He saw Dick talking to another deputy and so he decided to approach where the body was first. Heading forwards, he entered the alley and saw Alec already there, kneeling beside the body, gloved hands covered in blood and picking up his equipment.

"How you feeling, kid?"

Alec turns to him and smiles, "Much better, sir. Thank you."

Vince nods, glad that the young man was indeed feeling better. He no longer had dark circles under his eyes and he seemed in a better mood.

"So, what do we have?" he asks one of the deputies.

"A jogger was doing her usual laps and when she stopped to rest for a moment, she found the body." the deputy holds an evidence bag with a dollar bill inside, "A few bills were found in the scene; we suppose they're from the victim. We found almost five dollars in the alley, one was covered in blood almost at the entrance of the alley."

Vince frowns, looking down at the money, and wondering why the girl had so little money. If she had been mugged, her wallet and all the money would've been gone, but they have the wallet and some money.

Following his gut, he turns around and walks out the alley, deciding to approach the witness. She was standing beside another deputy as he wrote everything that she told him.

"So you're telling me that you stopped to take a break and saw found the body and then called the police." the deputy asked.

The runner sighs, "Yes, I've already told-"

Vince interrupts her, "Ma'am, could you be nice and please show us the contents of your running waist bag?"

The woman froze, "W-what?"

"Please, ma'am."

The woman looks between the deputy and Vince before she looks down at her bag and un-zips it, opening it slightly so they could see the inside. Like Vince suspected, inside were some bills tucked all wildly, like it had been in a hurry.

Vince takes a handful of the bills and holds them up to show them to the woman,

"Your money?"

"I-I found it."

Vince frowns, anger over his face, after he finds blood over two of the bills, "You robbed the corpse."

"She was dead! There was nothing I could do to help her!"

"So you helped yourself to the money?"

The woman shrugs, "She couldn't take it with her."

"Neither can you."

Vince nods at his deputy to take the woman away and he sighs. He can't believe people some times. He goes back to where Alec was, gently covering the girl's face with the blanket so the coroner could take her. As they take her away, Alec keeps kneeled on the ground, the two of them watching as they take the body to the back of the ambulance.

"Two bodies in less than a day. Two teenagers. This can't be a coincidence." Vince says.

"And those marks... Those black veins, the other kid had them as well."

"Anything you can tell me?"

"First, can you tell Dick to carefully pick up that cat that's rubbing over his leg?

Alec points over the blond agent, who was still talking with the deputy as a black cat rubbed against his left calf, seemingly content at doing so. The agent didn't seem in any hurry to push the cat away.

"Why?"

"Because the wallet we found, which I'm assuming it was the victim's although there's no ID, has small claw marks. I need the cat to check if they're from him."

Vince looks back at the cat and shrugs, making his way towards the two men.

* * *

At school, Thomas and Minho were listening to Aris as the witch told them about something funny that happened in History class when Rey approaches them, walking past them to go to the locker to literally slam her head over the closed locker door. No wincing at all. The three of them stopped everything and turned to look at the vampire girl.

"Uh, Rey? Are you alright?" Thomas asks.

The long haired girl takes a step back, face red because of the hit, and turns to them looking like she's about to whine about something.

"I have to make a dumb video for Sociology class about an specific topic as my exam but ugh, don't wanna."

"Oh, I have to do something similar, only I have to write an essay." Minho complains.

"Well, I'd rather write an essay than make a video."

"Maybe you can do each other." Aris shuts up for a moment and says, "Okay, I heard it too, let me rephrase that: You can do the project of the other."

"I can't. The topic is 'something I'm grateful for', so unless Minho can wear a black wig and pretend to be me, no can't do." she says looking at the Asian male.

Minho stays quiet until he mutters "Well..."

"No, Min, you're not going to wear a wig again!" Thomas complains.

"'Again'?"

Minho grins, "That was a great Halloween."

Aris laughs and he and Minho go to class, leaving Thomas and Rey alone.

Although Rey's locker wasn't there and it seemed that she already had her books, Thomas was glad that she waited for him to get his things before leaving. Before she could leave, Thomas spoke,

"Hey, Rey?"

The girl stops and turns around, "Yeah?"

Thomas licks his lips, "Is... Is everything okay between you and Alec?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I know you two had a fight and-"

"We didn't fight. We just had an argument."

"Okay, okay, an argument. But still... Is everything alright?"

Rey shrugs, "I still live with him, don't I?" and just like that she turns around and leaves.

Thomas stays in the same spot, watching as the vampire walks away with just that as an answer, "That- that doesn't answer my question-" but the girl was gone. "But okay."

Maybe he's overreacting and nothing's happening. Ugh, he should go to class and forget about it.

* * *

Aris walked into the library at school, walking towards the bookshelves to search for a book he thought he would need for his next assignment and had no intention to fight over it with someone today. He reached the aisle and stopped when he saw Theo sitting on the floor near one of the windows, a book over his lap.

He was tempted to turn around and go and come back later, since the werewolf hadn't noticed him.

"Hey,"

Instead, he decided to approach the other.

Theo looks up the book he was reading and nods at him, "Hey. What'cha doing here?"

"Looking for a book. You?"

"Just resting. Thought it would be nice to read something that doesn't involve writing an essay about," he shrugs.

They stay in silence after that.

Aris was still a little bit upset about the whole 'dating each other' incident the other day, and although he knew it hadn't been done to harm him, he was still annoyed about it. And the werewolf hadn't even apologized for his actions or say to Newt that they weren't an item, which was more infuriating.

Realizing that they're still just looking at each other in silence, Aris decides to take the first step.

"Okay, this is ridiculous. Let's just agree to say 'I'm sorry' on the count of three. One... Two.. Three."

There's an awkward silence.

"See, now I'm just disappointed in the both of us."

Theo chuckles and closes his book.

"No, but really, I think I deserve an apology." the witch said.

"Fine." Theo looks at him, "I'm sorry. I know it's fun to laugh at other people but not when you're the butt of the jokes. Sorry for teasing you."

"Apology accepted."

"Now I just gotta figure out why you're keeping your relationship with Gally a secret. It's not like the pack is intolerant. And it's not a bad thing either. We all can see how Gally makes you a better person, and you him."

"I hardly doubt I make him a better something, especially a better person."

"That's where you're wrong, but okay." he shrugs, "I guess we'll have to leave it there since I don't believe you want to talk more about it."

Theo moves and goes to stand up but doesn't see the edge of the window and accidentally hits his hipbone with it, making his drop the book with a wince.

"Son of a-"

Aris picks up the book for him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just didn't see where I was walking." he lifts up his shirt a little to see the red skin over his hipbone and where it would definitely bruise, "It's fine, it'll heal."

"You would think that being a werewolf would help you avoid getting hurt." he hums, "What do you know."

"You would think that being in a relationship would make you less than an asshole but what do you know..." he retorts with a smirk.

Aris mocks a smirk back at him before he turns to see the top of the window and stares at the mistletoe hanging from it.

The two of them stare at it before Theo looks at Aris with a smirk,

"Well, what do you know?" he points at his hip, "Wanna kiss it better?"

"Not even if it allowed me my freedom."

"Masochist. Nice."

Aris rolls his eyes but there's a little smile as pushes the book to the werewolf's chest before turning around and leaving.

* * *

At the morgue, Vince pushes the doors and walks inside the place to where Alec is working on the body of the girl. She was lying on top of an examination table and a white sheet was gently covering her body, only her face showing.

"Surprise me with what you found." Vince said joking as he approached the other.

"I think she was a werewolf."

Vince stops and raises both eyebrows, "Consider me surprised." then he frowns, "How can you tell?"

Carefully, Alec holds out her right arm from under the sheet and holds it up so Vince could see and there, over her hand was limp, were claws like the ones Thomas had.

"Luckily nobody noticed it because I'm not sure how to explain this to the coroner." he lowers her hand.

"We'll get back at that later. What about the wounds on her abdomen?"

"That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about." he barely lifts the sheet so they can see the side and the slash to her stomach, "I think she did it to herself."

"What?"

"The slash marks consist with her claws and the blood found in her claws were hers. They didn't match the cat in the alley."

Vince looks at the girl and back at Alec, "You mean to tell me that this girl killed herself? I don't understand. Who would want to die?"

Alec grimaces, "Sometimes there are worse things than dying."

Vince didn't ponder on that topic for too long, and instead cleared his throat and changed the topic, "Anything else you need? To get more answers."

"Don't know," Alec turned to him, "You know another teenage werewolf that goes to school?"

* * *

Teresa entered her next class, barely noticing the sleeping older teacher on his desk, and noticed that everyone was sitting quietly on their seats instead of their usual chatting.

Minho was looking down at his notebook, chin resting on top of his hand when she approached him, sitting on the available seat on his left.

"Who died?" she asked as she lowered her bag.

"No one, but Mr. Fitz could go any second." he says pointing at the quietly and unmoving sleeping teacher, who is sitting completely still until he snores and startles himself awake. The two of them exhale in relief.

Teresa shakes her head, changing the subject, "So, ready for the exams?"

"Not actually but what does it matter, they'll come either way."

Teresa chuckles and then proceeds to scratch her arm and looks at it but doesn't see anything on it that could probably itch.

Leaving her arm alone, she turns her attention back to her notebook and proceeds to study.

* * *

After Vince got Thomas out of class -not that Thomas minded, he was tired of learning equations- he drove the werewolf to the morgue after explaining that they might need his help with something. He dropped him with Alec and went back to the station.

Thomas stood beside the examination table with the dead body on it as Alec went to close the door so nobody would pass by and wonder why there was a teenager in the morgue.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this but we really want to avoid another body if it's possible." Alec says as he approaches the table again and puts on gloves.

"It's okay."

Alec nods before removing the sheet from the girl's face. Thomas stills once he has a better look at the girl but Alec doesn't notice.

"A jogger found her this morning. Deep marks that I later identified as claws were over her stomach-" he glances at the brunet, who was watching the girl without even blinking, "We still don't know what these black veins are but.. Thomas?" he looks down at the girl's body and at Thomas' face and he gasps, "Oh my God, did you know her?" Thomas nods, "I'm so sorry. I didn't even think." he quickly covers her face as Thomas looks away.

"She was a classmate. Um, Heather; we had History together." Thomas swallows the knot over his throat, "She didn't come to class yesterday either."

Alec puts a hand over his arm, "Are you okay?"

Thomas nods, taking a deep breathe to calm down before he makes a face.

" _God_ , this place smells like death."

"I know, sweetie." Alec tries to give him a smile, "Are you sure you're okay?" Thomas nods again, having calmed down, "...Do you think you could do me a favor? I know it's a big thing to ask..."

Thomas nods, "Yeah, what do you need?"

Alec's eyes look over at the other side of the room where another body was over another table, "That guy we found him last night with the same dark veins over his body. He's a teenager, around your age, and... I don't know if you knew him as well but..."

"You want me to look at him and see if I recognize him?"

Alec nods.

"B-But only if you can! I don't want to pressure you or anything-"

"No, no. I can do it."

Thomas walks towards the body and waits until Alec removes the sheet so he can see his face. The same black veins like the ones on Heather's face and neck were in this guy.

"I've seen him before, at the station. He's the missing person from that poster, isn't he?"

"And from school?"

"No, I-I-" he licks his lips, "I'm not sure. Maybe he was in one of my classes, I don't know. Sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you so much, Thomas."

"So... she was a werewolf?" Thomas asks while glancing back at Heather.

"It seems so, yes."

"I never knew. Didn't smell anything off in her, not even in class."

"Maybe it's because she wanted it that way. Wanted to stay hidden." Alec grimaces, "I'm sorry."

Thomas shakes his head but can't shake the tight feeling over his throat and chest.

* * *

Minho came back from school and after closing the door, he sighed. Damn, he was tired. He walked towards the kitchen to grab something to eat and as he was about to open the fridge's door, he saw a blue post-it on the door.

**'Went to pick up Kira and dad went for pizza. Don't eat before we come back -Mom <3'**

Minho nodded -pizza, yay!- and made his way to the kitchen's door that lead to the backyard. He opened the door and as he stepped out, his dog Judge was already running towards him. The raven male sat on the steps as he received the full momentum of his dog's crash against his body.

"Hey, buddy! Did you miss me? Did'ya miss me?" he asked while making your typical 'I'm talking to my pet and I make a funny voice' voice.

The dog barked happily and started twirling around.

Minho started rubbing his fur, "I missed you too. I know I haven't been paying too much attention to you. Dumb school, you know? But hey, listen." he grabbed the dog's face and made him look at him, "Tomorrow is Saturday and I think that after all the studying I've done I can allow myself some time, so what do you say that tomorrow it's just you and I? Huh? You'd like that?"

Judge barked and Minho smiled at his dog, keeping rubbing his fur as the dog licked his face.

"Yeah, I thought so too!" he stood up and opened the door to let the dog in, "Come on, let's watch some TV before dinner."

Judge quickly entered the house and started jumping around excited as Minho closed the door.

* * *

Rey opened the apartment's door and entered the place, closing the door behind her.

"I'm home! Alec! Chairman Meow!"

Nobody answered. _'Maybe something came up at work?'_

Rey drops her things over the couch and goes to the kitchen to open the fridge. She grabs the glass of blood she left there in the morning and takes it out, takes a big gulp of blood before closing the door.

Chairman Meow appears in the kitchen, rubbing over her legs.

"Hey you," she kneels to scratch the cat's ears and hear the purring, "Are you hungry? You wanna eat something yummy?" she stood back up again and opened the fridge again to take out the cat's food and pour it into his plate. "Here you go!"

As the cat attacked the plate, Rey took a sip from her blood, grabbing her bag from the couch and making her way towards her bedroom. She opened the door and threw her backpack over her bed before exiting her room and approaching Alec's. The door was closed.

She knocks on the door, "Alec, I'm home!" but receives no answer. She frowns and just when she's about to open the door the cat meows, suddenly standing behind her and startling her.

"Freakin- _Chairman!_ " she looks at the cat, "Why did you do that?! I just fed you!"

The cat scratched the bathroom's door while meowing, almost as if he wanted Rey to go there. Or at least that's how Rey saw it.

Rey approaches the bathroom, softly knocking on the door.

"Alec, are you there?"

Nothing.

Frowning, Rey grabbed the knob and slowly opened the door, expecting to find it empty but to her surprise she found Alec unconscious on the bathroom floor.

"Alec!"

* * *

After Rey called Thomas to come and help her with Alec, the werewolf brought Vince and the three of them took Alec to the hospital immediately. The vampire still wouldn't wake up and they were getting nervous because, well, he wasn't waking up!

A drive to the hospital and a few minutes later, Alec was currently sleeping on a comfy hospital bed, fluids wired to his arm and Thomas, Vince and Rey watching him from over the door.

While the other two watched Alec, Thomas noticed a few cotton pads covered in beige-like color on the cart beside the bed.

"What's that?" he asked Vince.

"Make-up. The nurse cleaned it from him. He used it to cover the dark circles under his eyes and how pale his face was."

Now that you look at him without the make-up you can say that Alec's not good as he told everyone. No. The circles under his eyes were more prominent, and his pale skin was the paleness of when you're very ill. He hadn't noticed back in the morgue but it's not his fault that he was looking at the dead bodies of teenagers and not at the vampire.

He looked really bad.

"I don't understand. If he felt sick, why didn't he told me?" Rey asks.

Thomas shrugs, "Maybe he didn't wanted to worry you, because of the exams coming closer."

"Yeah, but..." she doesn't say anything else.

"Listen, I gotta get back to work but I'll come to check him after my shift ends." Vince says.

Thomas nods and Vince proceeds to leave the room, Thomas about to follow since he's his ride.

"I'll stay with him." Rey says.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm carrying my potion so I can be out when the sun is out, don't worry. Besides, what am I gonna do alone in the apartment? Chores?"

Thomas chuckles but nods, understanding that she wants to stay until Alec awakens. As Rey grabs a chair and pulls it beside the bed so she can sit on it, Thomas stops before crossing the door.

"See you at school on Monday?"

Rey shook her head, "Don't think so. I want to stay until he wakes up, even if that takes time. I'll text you once he's awake, don't worry."

Thomas nods and giving Alec a last look, he leaves the room.

* * *

Theo, after going back home and having dinner and do his homework, he thought he deserved a break and so he drove towards the mansion. He parked his truck and as he stepped out of it, walking towards the door, he didn't even need to knock because the door opened before he could.

Brennan was on the other side, smiling at him.

"Hey, you."

"Hey,"

They both leaned forward to give a quick kiss before Theo entered the mansion. It was freezing out there and in here it was warmer.

"I was about to watch a movie, wanna join me?" Brennan asked as he went to the stairs.

"And Gally and Aris?"

"Oh, they're gonna watch it too but they went to buy some popcorn and candies." he made a 'come over' sign, "I need help to bring down the blankets and pillows since we're watching it in the living room."

"Aye aye, Captain." and follows the blue-eyed dragon upstairs to help him with the stuff.

While allowing Brennan to make him carry everything by himself -the pillows and blankets-, Theo winced a little when he had to lift his arms up, and that wince didn't go unnoticed by Brennan.

"You okay?"

Theo goes downstairs, "Yeah, just hit myself against something earlier. It already healed but it's still tender." he says as he puts down the things on the couch.

Brennan, just because he's curious and he can, lifts up the werewolf's shirt to see his side.

"Tender? Theo, there's a bruise here."

Theo, not expecting it to be there, looks down and indeed looks at the nasty looking purple bruise over his hipbone. That's weird; he should've healed already.

Theo lowers his shirt, "Probably it's nothing. I haven't been sleeping so well because of the exams, so maybe it's taking my body longer to heal properly."

Brennan doesn't seem to buy it but before he can argue anymore, the door opens and Gally and Aris enter the mansion carrying grocery bags and are surprised to see Theo there, although the truck parked outside gave that away.

Aris smiles, "Well, isn't this a nice surprise?" he turns to Gally and pats his chest, "Told you it was a good idea to buy more! Theo is gonna join us, so don't be an ogre and help put everything in order."

"Me? Why don't you do it?"

"Because I already went and bought the popcorn and everything else."

"With my money!"

"I carried the bags."

"There were only 2 bags!"

"I rest my case." and with that, Aris ignores the other and goes to the kitchen to prepare the popcorn.

Gally rolls his eyes but ends up doing what Aris asked him to.

* * *

At her house, Teresa was about to take a shower after a long day. But first she had to do something. Miss Deavor had given them some tips about the Biology exam and about some questions that might or might not be on the test and so, Teresa was going to study those tonight so tomorrow she could relax a little before spending all Sunday immersed in her books.

She went to fill the tub since she wanted a nice a warm bath, with maybe some oils and perfumes to spoil herself because she deserves it. Maybe once the exams week is over she'll have another too, like a victory bath.

She was wearing her bathrobe, sitting on the edge of the tub as she watched the water fill the tub. When she decided it was filled and warm enough, she turned the knob around to stop it. She threw the oils and some petals and mixed them.

With her fingers, Teresa started touching and playing with the water, looking down at the steam coming from it and wanting so bad to get inside already. Perhaps she can take her bath now and then study until she falls asleep. That sounds like a good plan.

Still looking down at the water, she thinks she sees something underneath the water and frowns. Rolling her right sleeve up, she submerges her arm until she touches the bottom but there's nothing there, nothing she can feel at least.

As she frowns because it must've been her imagination -she's tired-, she's about to remove her arm when something with claws grabs her hand, stopping her from stepping away.

Teresa struggles to get her arm free, water splashing around. Then she feels slashes in her arm and screams.

Teresa's mom, Emily, was coming out of her car when she heard a scream coming from her house and immediately knew it was Teresa and that something probably happened to her, so she ran to the door and opened it. Once open, she pushed it away and ran upstairs not caring about the still open door downstairs.

She reaches Teresa's room and finds it empty but she sees a light over the bathroom and quickly she enters the bathroom and gasps at the scene.

Teresa, still in her bathrobe, was lying face down and unconscious on the floor, blood pouring out from the slashes on her right arm.

"Teresa!"

* * *

Newt was sitting over his desk in his room with his legs brought up and one arm hugging them, his lamp on and illuminating his notebook. His mom had already gone to sleep a little early but Newt continued to be awake.

He was tapping his pen against the sheets when he heard a 'tap' over his window and that caught his attention. Another 'tap', which apparently was a pebble being thrown to his window, and Newt stands up to look over his window and to the street.

Thomas was standing over the sidewalk, facing Newt's house and window. Thomas smiled once he realized he had the witch's attention.

Newt smiled and opened his window and heard Thomas yell: "Come on! We're going for a ride!"

Newt smiles, grabs his jacket and car keys and leaves his room.

* * *

Newt admits he's a little confused about why Thomas brought them to the school. At night. The school at night, not the most romantic place and not the best place to be at night.

Either ways, he trusts his boyfriend and, taking his hand, the two enter the building.

Apparently Thomas has a plan because they don't just stay in the hallway or enter a random classroom; Thomas takes them to a specific classroom, opening the door for Newt to enter before closing the door behind them.

It looks odd without the lights on, but he knows they can't turn on any light in case someone passing by sees and calls the police.

Still holding hands, Thomas pulls him closer so they're now standing on the front of the classroom, looking at the chairs ahead of them.

"Not that I question your actions, love, but what are we doing here? Wanted to feel a little adventurous or...?"

"This is where my life changed for good." Thomas said out of the blue, "This is the same classroom where we first meet, on your first day of school."

Briefly letting go of Newt's hand, Thomas walked closer to the chairs and pointed at the one in the middle of the rows.

"I was sitting right there, so bored out of my mind it wasn't even funny when suddenly, this... delicious scent invaded my senses. This sweet mix between cinnamon and carnations, so overwhelming that I couldn't concentrate until I found out where it was coming from. Being a werewolf was new to me, but that didn't stop me from following that scent."

He pauses for a moment.

"And right before I knew it, the door opened and you waltzed into my life unannounced but to my wolf it was like: _'Oh, there you are. I was waiting for you.'_ "

"Thomas..."

"I couldn't keep my eyes off of you and your scent was driving me crazy. There you were, standing so beautiful, clutching the strap of your satchel and blame it on my newborn werewolf senses but I knew you had to be mine." he walks back to Newt's side, "Just two words changed my whole life: Newton Argent. And I can't believe I was able to live without having heard those words. And I'm not sure I will be able to live without them anymore."

The werewolf grabbed one of Newt's hands and brought it up to his lips, sweetly kissing the knuckles. Newt couldn't help but to smile.

"I want you to know that you'll always gonna be my true love, my mate, and I will always gonna try to make you happy while you're with me because you deserve it. Forever."

Newt's whole face was flushed and his heart skipped a beat after Thomas' words; a panicky expression writing over his face.

"Thomas, I love you but _please_ tell me you're not going to ask me to marry you right now. We're still too bloody young a-and it's the middle of the night at the _bloody_ school and I'm starting to judge all of your ideas-"

Thomas flushes and grabs the witch's hands to stop him from continuing, "N-no! No! I mean, I do want to marry you... but I meant in the future." when both their hearts calm down, he continues, "After college, both sure of our decisions and about what we want to do with our lives. I know you're the person I want to spend all the moon cycles with, have a family, and a house- of course we'd have an extra bedroom over the house where Minho can grow old."

Newt smiles at his boyfriend's silliness.

"And naturally, after we have some money because, baby," he exhales loudly, "man can't live on love alone."

Newt's features change as he can't keep the straight face and starts laughing, crinkles by his eyes and his melodic laughter filling the classroom in the dead of the night. He clutches Thomas' arms as the laughter leaves him, managing to open his eyes to look at the brunet werewolf.

"Oh bloody Merlin, you are such a dork." he manages to say as he calms down, a smile over his lips.

"But you love it."

The witch brings his hands to cup Thomas' face, "Yeah, I do." and kisses him deeply.

The brunet kissed back, his arms wrapping around Newt's waist and resting his hands over his back while Newt's arms went around his shoulders and his fingers started roaming through his hair.

A small spark of blue fire appeared over Newt's fingers but it didn't burn Thomas. Instead, it made a blue glow in the dark classroom as they continued kissing.

* * *

Early in the morning at the hospital, Rey was at the cafeteria to get something to eat. Since she wouldn't leave Alec's side to go home and get some blood to drink, she would have to fill herself with actual food until she could get her hands on some blood. She was also getting some for Alec for once he was awake; he would definitely need the food more than her because he hasn't drunk any blood since being here.

As Rey turns around with the tray on her hands, ready to go back to Alec's room, she notices that the sun was up already and she's glad she drank her potion at least, that would allow her to be outside without bursting into flames.

Thankfully, Alec is locked in the hospital and won't have to step outside and worry about the sun, since he hasn't drunk his potion and right now he's vulnerable.

That's why Rey makes sure to always keep the curtains closed when she goes to sleep, in case she forgot about her potion or the sun decided to come out early and shinier, like today.

That train of thought drives her to last night when she opened the curtains in Alec's room so she could watch the moon and she forgot to close them back again.

"Alec,"

Rey drops the tray and runs through the hospital, ignoring the looks and calls of 'don't run in the hallways' as she ran in the hallways, an awful knot over her throat at the thought of Alec being hurt. She tried to push it aside while turning around the corner until she reached Alec's room, quickly opening the door and stepping in.

After stepping in, Rey stops in the entrance and stares. Of all the things that she could've expect, what she was witnessing was definitely not on the list.

Alec was not only awake; he was sitting up on the bed, head turned and looking right out of the curtains-open window as the warm sunrays went through the window and caressed his skin. No burning no nothing.

* * *

Rey, after finally calming down, called her Alpha and once Thomas arrived at the hospital, he and Mary went to Alec's room.

"This is not possible." Rey said.

Alec was sitting up on the bed, still looking like shit. Without the makeup he used to cover his skin, you could see how deep and dark his bags were and how pale his lips looked. But even with all of that, there he was, sitting on the bed with the curtain open and the sun still shining inside and right at him. But he wasn't burning, not even a little.

Mary approached Alec and went to grab his hand but before doing it she asked "May I?"

Alec nodded and held his right hand so Mary could take his pulse.

The other two waited until the older woman let go of Alec's wrist and turned to them,

"There's pulse."

Now, _that's_ new.

"That's impossible. Alec's a vampire; vampires have no pulse." Rey says.

"I know, dear, but right now he has a pulse. Low but one."

Thomas looks at Alec, "How are you feeling?"

Alec softly smiles, "I feel fine. Just a little tired and hungry, but that's all. I swear. In fact, I feel great, so I should be able to go home."

"No!" the three people inside the room said at the same time.

Thomas explains, "No, Alec- We don't know what's happening, why do you have pulse now? How come the sun isn't burning you?"

"But I'm not feeling worse. I feel better. I just need to eat and if I feel anything I swear I'll tell you or Vince."

"...We can't force you to stay in the hospital if you actually feel good." Mary says.

"What?!" that's Rey.

"But I want you to promise that I won't see you here again at least in what's left of December." Mary says, "I just want you to stay one more day here, so I can be sure you're totally fine. Can you do that for me, son?"

Alec nodded.

"Thanks. I'll feel better letting you go after staying one more day, just as precaution."

Alec nods again and turns to look at the vampire girl, "Rey, go home."

"But-"

"You still have homework to do. And you need to prepare for those exams."

"They don't matter right now."

"You've been studying all week like crazy because you worried about them; they matter." he offers her a smile, "Look, I have my phone here with me. If you want to call every hour to check on me, you're more than welcome but please, go home. Study. Eat. Check that Chairman Meow doesn't eat my candies."

Rey manages to smile at that.

"I'll be home by tomorrow morning and you won't even notice my absence. Go. I'll be fine." he glances at Mary, "I have Mary here to look after me."

"Damn right I am."

Thomas chuckles.

Rey sighs and nods. She takes a step forwards until she's standing beside Alec's bed, "You better pick you phone at the first ring because if I call and you don't answer at the first ring I'll-"

"I'll answer at the first ring, don't worry." with his right hand, the closest one, he caresses Rey's hand.

Rey flinches a little because Alec's touch is warm, not cold like usual.

At the end, Thomas and Rey left the hospital, walking outside the building and making their way to Newt's car -that Thomas took with permission to come to Rey's aid.

"Thanks for coming." Rey says as they approach the car.

"We're pack. That's what we do." Thomas answers as he opens the doors.

Before entering the car, Rey turns to Thomas and looks at him from over the ceiling of the car, "Is Alec too?"

Thomas looks up.

"Pack, I mean."

Thomas looks to the front, apparently thinking about it before he turns to look at Rey with a smile,

"Sure he is."

That somehow makes Rey feel a little better than when she was inside the hospital.


	4. White Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SOOO SORRYYYYY!!!!! This bitch wouldn't cooperate with me and by "this bitch" I mean my laptop because, believe it or not, I've been trying to upload this chapter since I woke up but first I forgot to upload the song on youtube that I had to use in this chapter, so it was HELL trying to do that. And then, my laptop was working so slow, I swear it was doing it on purpose. And then finally at 10 pm the laptop was okay again and the song was ready.... but it wasn't. Turns out, the video and the song were wrong and I had to do it all over again and *cries in Spanish* but here I am, now finally able to do it!!! So sorry if you were expecting this earlier (like I usually do) but at least you'll get a chapter.
> 
> Oh! Also, some kind of bad news: there won't be a chapter next Saturday (27), but until Saturday 4 of July (we'll be soon in July, holycrap!!). Hope this chapter makes the wait for the next one a little better :)

The same day after visiting Alec in the hospital and deciding that he would stay there one more day to give both Rey and Mary some mental peace, Thomas found himself standing outside of Minho's house, waiting for his friend to answer the door after ringing the bell. The Asian male had asked Thomas if he could come and help him babysit his little sister and her best friend -which with she apparently had a play date that day- since his parents had to both work all day. Thomas, being the good friend he was, agreed.

The door opens and Minho appears on the entryway.

"Hey, thanks for coming." he says as he moves aside to let the brunet enter.

"No problem."

It also gave Thomas the chance to relax a little after spending the last days studying.

They stop over the living room, which Thomas notices was literally all over the place, with the cushions and blankets thrown around.

"I know that when I usually invite you over is for videogames or homework but unfortunately it won't be the case."

"It's alright, I didn't had plans."

"Well, I did!" Minho complains, "And I had to cancel my dog, you know how awful that is? If you think that dogs don't understand what you're saying, I dare you to smell where he peed on my bed after I told him I couldn't take him out for a walk."

Thomas makes a face before shaking his head and looking around.

"Anyways, where is Kira and her friend?"

"They're preparing themselves."

"For what?"

In that moment, almost as if having being invoked, Kira and a ginger-haired girl with wild hair come running down the stairs, the two of them dressed in different ways: Kira was wearing a cape and holding a cardboard sword, along with a gold paper crown and the ginger girl was wearing a dress and wearing a tiara over her curls.

"Preparing to defeat the dragon!" the little girl smiles after seeing the brunet, "Thomas! You're here!" the two girls run towards them, "Now we have another knight to defeat the beast! We're playing that I'm a prince and have to rescue the princess, Jamie, from the terrible and mean dragon that rules these enchanted lands." she said while pointing at the living room and the cushions on the floor.

"Really?"

The friend, Jamie, nods, "Yes! There's the dragon." she says pointing at a plump pillow wrapped in a red pillow-case with a paper that read 'dragon' on it.

"Here's your sword!" Kira gives Thomas another cardboard-made sword.

"And Minho?"

"He's our horse-pet!" they declare proudly.

Thomas gives them an incredulous look before he turns to look at Minho, who had his arms crossed over his chest and looking right back at him.

"Trust me, it was that or being the princess and man, I am not going to wear makeup! I have sensitive pores!"

Thomas chuckles and shakes his head.

"Alright then." Thomas holds up the sword, "To rescue the princess!"

"And slay the dragon!" Kira declares raising hers.

Both Thomas and Minho wince at that, thinking automatically of Gally and Brennan.

"Um, girls, wouldn't you like it better if you didn't kill the dragon?"

"But then what would we eliminate?"

Minho scoffs, "Oh, there are a lot of other things to eliminate! A robber. Famine. Inflation... Math."

The two kids stare at the Asian male.

"Let's try another thing." Thomas says.

* * *

At her mom's room, Teresa was sitting up on the bed, comfy pillows on her back, and a velvety and warm blanket over her legs, her right arm wrapped in bandages resting above a pillow.

After her mom found her, she quickly managed to wake Teresa up and stop the bleeding without the need of going to the hospital. Emily hugged her and tried to reassure Teresa that everything was fine and that she was gonna take care of her. And she did.

She helped Teresa stand up from the floor, take a look at her wounds that didn't look too deep to need stitches but they needed to be cleaned so they wouldn't infect. She gently applied the ointment before wrapping some bandages around her arm, not too-tight for it to hurt Teresa but not too loose in case this fell.

After it was done, she prepared Teresa another warm bath and kept an eye on her the whole time. After she was done, Emily helped her out and gave her her pajamas; once she was clothed, she led Teresa to her room and lied her on her bed before lying down herself too, opposite to Teresa so she could kiss her daughter on the forehead before falling asleep.

Right now, Emily was downstairs making breakfast for the two of them. Teresa knows she scared the crap out of her mom last night but it wasn't her fault! Well, it had been her fault. More like, it hadn't been her intention! She doesn't even remember how she ended up on the floor, bleeding from inexplicable wounds.

It could be banshee thing, but then again, what for? She doesn't remember seeing anything that could give her a clue of what was happening. And the wounds on her arm? What's that for?

Her blue eyes stopped staring at her arm when a knock came from the door before this opened and Emily carrying a tray entered her room. On the tray, Teresa could see pancakes with syrup and a glass of chocolate milkshake.

"Here you go, darling." Emily sat on the edge of the bed and carefully put the tray down. "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine, mom."

"You sure?"

Teresa nods.

Emily nods back, letting out a breath she was holding in since before entering the room.

"I have to do some work but after I'm done with that we can watch some movies, cuddling on this bed and be lazy for once."

Teresa smiled at her mom's words.

"You would like that?" Teresa nodded again and Emily smiled. "I love you very much, dear."

"I love you more."

"I love you most." she kissed Teresa's forehead before getting up from bed and leaving the room.

Teresa looked down at her breakfast and found that she was feeling hungry after all.

* * *

After somehow managing to convince the girls that slaying a poor dragon wasn't that cool, they suggested that instead of slaying the dragon they had to help the dragon and the princess -who were actually friends- escape the castle as they were custodied by the bad king -personified by one of Kira's plushies- that didn't allowed them to eat ice cream.

The girls liked it better than their original idea and so, Thomas and Kira -who was carried around the house over Minho's back- went to rescue them while Jamie lay on the couch hugging the dragon-pillow.

Minho, who had fallen asleep at some point after the princess/dragon rescue mission and the treasure hunt that involved hiding Minho and Thomas' cellphones around the house, quickly sat up after hearing the bell ring.

Unknown to him, after he fell asleep on the floor and Thomas was in the bathroom, the girls took advantage of the situation and decided to give him a make-over.

Blue eyeshadow smeared at the corner of his eyes and black mascara. Bright red lipstick and some rosy tone on his cheeks, along with a green cotton headband holding his bangs up and away from his face.

The bell rang again.

"All right, I got it!"

Minho got up from the hard floor, kicking one cushion away from his path to the door; he opens the door and finds a deputy on the other side. The man turns to look at him and startles a little when staring at his face and at the make-up.

"Good evening." Minho wonders why there's a deputy on his door.

"G-good evening. Uh, is the man of the house at home?"

Minho frowns, "'Man of the house'?" he thinks about it and then he yells over his shoulder, "Thomas! A deputy is here!"

_"Coming!"_

Moments later, Thomas comes walking from the hallway, noticing the deputy and is actually surprised.

"Deputy Kubitz, hi." he says once he reaches the door.

"Hi."

Thomas turns to look at Minho and startles at all the makeup, " _Ah!_ What's wrong with your face?"

Minho frowns in confusion, "My face?"

Minho turns to look at his face on the mirror on the wall and finds it with all the makeup. He's startled a moment by his appearance but he recovers quickly.

"Kira and Jamie." he says once he realizes who are the culprits. He turns back to the other two, fake smiling, "If you'll excuse me, I have to see two little girls because now I'm a girl too."

And with that, he turns around and further into the house in search for the girls while leaving Thomas and the deputy.

"Is something wrong, deputy?"

"Vince tried to call to your phone more than once and since you didn't pick up, he made me come to make sure everything was fine."

Thomas holds up his phone, "Battery's dead. Sorry." he puts his phone away, "I was gonna charge it now, you can tell Vince that he doesn't need to worry and that from now on I'll answer."

The deputy nods and departs.

Thomas closes the door and goes in search for Minho, in case he's already killed the girls and now Thomas will have to help him hide the bodies and he's so not in the mood today. He reaches the kitchen and doesn't see anyone there. He goes upstairs and hears screams and laughter and just follows it to Minho's room.

Opening the door to Minho's room, the brunet is almost hit straight in the face with a pillow but fortunately -werewolf reflexes- he catches it before that happens and lowers it to see what's going on in the room.

Kira and Jamie are jumping up and down on Minho's bed while the Asian male was sitting on his desk chair, wiping his face with baby wipes to remove the makeup. It was almost gone except for the lipstick that was smeared all over Minho's mouth. He kept the headband for some reason.

Once they see him step into the room, Kira and Jamie stop jumping and look at Thomas with big smiles, "Thomas! You came just in time! Now we are magical creatures!" where does this kid get so much energy? "I'm a witch, because they can do magic and are awesome! Jamie likes mermaids, so she'll be one!"

"And what am I?" Minho dares to ask.

"A fairy!"

Indignant, Minho stands up from the chair, "A fai- I don't want to be a goddamn fairy!"

"Why not? They're beautiful, strong, and super badass if you piss them off! That sounds just like you, Min-Min!"

Minho tries to act like he's still offended by the comment but the way he tries to stop the smile and looks super smug doesn't help.

"You think that?"

The two girls nod.

"I'm a fairy, y'all!"

"Yaaaay!"

Kira points at the brunet, "Thomas, you're a werewolf."

"...Okay." _'I mean, it's not like I'm lying or anything.'_ "First let me charge my phone or we'll have another visit like the one from before."

Minho nods and allows him to leave the room so he can go for his charger downstairs.

Thomas goes downstairs and towards the kitchen, where his charger was connected and decided to plug his phone there.

As he waits for it to turn back on, he looks out the window and at the sun still up and he wonders how Alec's doing.

And especially, how Rey's doing.

* * *

And once again, Rey wasn't able to sleep in the day. Although she felt tired for staying all night and until the sun came up watching Alec, once she came back home, she hoped that maybe she could sleep a little but it never came.

She stayed awake, thinking about Alec's current situation and how they were going to remedy it. It wasn't normal for a vampire to be warm, or to be able to be under daylights without hurting, or have a freaking pulse!

Right now, Rey was standing in the middle of the apartment, looking around at the now-big-looking and empty place and remembered that Alec wouldn't be home for another day and she would have to manage without him.

It's alright. It's not like she needs him all the time; there's plenty of blood in the fridge and she doesn't need to go out for school or anything.

But she also knows that that means that she'll have to figure a way to not be bored while Alec is in the hospital. What was she supposed to do locked in the apartment? House chores? ([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uTwmeYFo7Y&feature=youtu.be))

Rey huffed and without anything else to do, decided to start working. Grabbing a sponge and some soap, she starts by scrubbing the kitchen island, blowing away the bubbles that accumulated and watching as the cat tried to eat them.

She then moved to the dishwasher and, not knowing how it actually worked since Alec is the one that does the dishes, just poured the rest of the soap on the plates and closed the lid, pushing some buttons before it started working. She patted the machine and moved on.

**_Come on and rescue me_ **

Next, Rey was washing Alec's car, jumping, dancing and singing as she threw water on the car.

An elderly neighbor passed beside the window from inside her house and saw Rey dancing; she knocked on the window to have the other's attention and as soon as Rey saw her, she stopped dancing. The old woman gave her a look and disappeared.

**_Rescue me_ **

Back inside, Rey was dusting off the living room curtains, hitting them hard with the duster like a piñata when she glanced at Alec's room. She felt a knot over her stomach after realizing that the room as still closed since yesterday.

Next thing she knew, she was lying on her back on Alec's bed, tapping the feather duster that laid on her stomach while staring at the ceiling. It hasn't even been a day and she was already done with cleaning and now she didn't had another thing to do.

With her other hand, she clutched Alec's hoodie tighter.

Even with the music still playing, she was perfectly able to hear a knock coming from the main door.

She drops the duster to the floor and exits Alec's room, putting stop to the music before going to the door, opening it only half-way and finding Dick on the other side.

"Alec's not here." she says.

"I know. Vince told me." he clears his throat, "I, uh, I came here to make sure you were fine."

Rey looks at her sides, "I'm fine."

"Really? I mean, not that I don't think you can't take care of yourself, being a teenager and all, but you're still a kid and maybe you would want some help with anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

Rey seems to consider this as she opens the door wider so the blond man can enter. Once inside, she closes and turns to him. The man removed his beanie and turned to her.

"Were you cleaning?" he looks around the place, "Because it does look cleaner. I mean, not that it's not always clean, you know?"

Chairman Meow comes sprinting from over the hallway, stopping once he reached the blond man and started rubbing against his leg. Dick crouched down to be able to reach for the cat and rub behind his ears.

"I need you to take me to the supermarket." Rey says out of the blue.

"Sure."

"...You're not gonna ask me why?"

Dick shrugs, "I did say 'anything'. It's not like you're asking me to take you to the store to buy some liquor." he stands up, interrupting the cat love-fest and faces the girl, "Your fridge is probably empty and you don't want Alec to go grocery shopping the same day he comes out of the hospital."

That seemed like a logical thing to allow other people to believe, but for some reason it bothered Rey, so while holding her ground and not shying away she said,

"I want to make Alec dinner for once he comes back."

Dick looks at the girl and notices that although she said it so firm, she actually meant it from the heart and that it was a great deal for her to admit something like that.

"I know, it sounds stupid."

"Not at all. It's perfectly normal to show that you care about another person, you know?" he moves to the door, opening it and waiting for Rey to tag along.

Rey goes to the kitchen island and grabs her phone and keys before joining the blond man at the door and leaving the apartment.

* * *

There's a knock on Minho's house door and while Thomas was entertained watching Aladdin with the girls over Minho's room, the raven haired male was over the backyard doing some stuff, and therefore couldn't hear the door.

Teresa was about to knock again in case no one heard her but stops before doing it after hearing some noise coming from the backyard. She decides to go around the house and towards the door connecting the backyard, and sees Minho carrying an empty-looking box while his dog ran circles around him.

Teresa carefully opened the fence-door and as she closed it behind her, Judge came running towards her, happily moving from one side to the other as she petted him. Blue eyes looked up to see Minho making his way towards her and she decided to meet him in the middle, Judge running away to chase a squirrel.

"Hey,"

"Hey. Sorry to barge in like this, I knocked on the door but there was no answer."

Minho shook his head, "No, it's okay." the two of them walked towards the kitchen door and entered the house through there.

"I'm not interrupting or anything, right?" she asked as she followed Minho out of the kitchen and towards the basement's door, turning on the light of the stairs.

"No, not at all. Thomas and the girls are upstairs." he said with a nod towards the stairs while the two of them went down to the basement.

"The girls?"

"My sister and her friend. Relax, you know you're the only woman in my life." he said teasing before the smile dropped, "Wait, that sounds sad."

Teresa chuckles and looked around at the several boxes labeled 'Christmas decorations' on the ground. Minho put down the empty box next to one of the boxes.

"I thought that might as well take out the decorations before the kids realize they want to play another game and I have my hands busied." and without turning to look at her he adds "What happened to your arm?"

Teresa looks at her long sleeve and notices that a small part of her bandages was peeking out. "Oh, this? It's nothing."

Minho gently grabs her arm and looks at it, "Doesn't look like nothing."

Teresa takes back her arm, not wanting to talk more about the issue. Minho understands the silent plea and turns his attention back to the boxes, crouching so he could rummage through the boxes.

"So, don't get me wrong but what brought you here?

"Just... didn't feel like staying home. My mom had to go out because something came up at work, so I was alone watching some TV but..." she shrugs, "Don't know, didn't want to be there."

Minho nods, turning to look at the kid-sized Santa decoration out of the box, the tangled lights and a small figurine ice skating rink, when he remembers something and turns to Teresa, who was still standing in her place while looking around the basement.

Minho cleared his throat, and trying to act nonchalant he said

"You know, me and Thomas were actually talking about taking the girls to the ice skating rink..." a smile starts appearing over Teresa's face, "and if you're not busy right now, I thought that maybe you would want to come ice skating with us. You know, Thomas, Newt, the hobbits and me."

Teresa continues to smile, watching as Minho held his breath for her answer before closing her eyes for a moment and nodding, "Yes. Yes, I would like that."

Minho smiles and turns to the Santa decoration, "Did you hear that Santa? She said 'Yes'!" he laughs happily, "Now back to your cold airless tomb."

Minho puts the Santa toy back in the box and from the inside it could be hear in a mechanical -and somehow sad- voice _'Ho ho ho.'_

* * *

([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwPAGzENqiU)) Several minutes later, Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa and the little girls arrive at the ice skating rink installed out in the open. Several people were already there: parents with their kids skating slowly although happily. Couples holding hands and gliding around the rink. Friends trying to outrun their friends or trying to see who could do more spins.

After putting on their skates and reaching the rink, Thomas held the door open for Newt, who smiled at him as he stepped into the rink. Minho and Teresa took the chance to get Kira and Jamie in while also enter, with Minho blowing a kiss at Thomas for holding the door open for them too. Thomas rolled his eyes but couldn't help but to smile.

Newt, who learned how to ice skate when he was a kid, turned to face Thomas who was still outside the rink.

"Should I give you some pointers since you've never skated before, Tommy?" Newt asks, adjusting his red scarf.

"Newt, not that this is news to you or anything but you remember the whole werewolf thing? Super speed, strength and reflexes?"

"So a little ice skating should be no problem?" Newt questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Thomas snorts. He tentatively puts one foot on the ice and then the other and when he didn't fall, he began attempting to skate.

"See? I got it!"

Thomas' statement is cruelly stamped as he out of the nothing flew into the air, landing smack dab on his front and groaning.

Minho and Teresa cringed.

"Okay, maybe not."

Newt rolled his eyes but still felt a smile appear over his face as he skated back to his boyfriend. He helped Thomas stand up and helped him dust off the frost on his clothes.

Meanwhile, Minho walks towards the ice, pausing briefly before gliding onto it. He glanced at where Thomas and Newt were, the werewolf holding onto Newt's arms as the witch slowly helped him stand on his feet while gliding a little.

Minho turns around to find Teresa twirling, lost in her own little world with a huge smile on her face; a genuinely happy smile.

Minho watches her in awe.

"Hey, I think I got it!" Thomas' voice ranged throughout the rink, followed by a huge thud.

Minho turns to see Thomas laying on his butt on the ice with Newt crouched down next to him with a hand trying to cover the smile over his face.

Teresa makes her way towards Minho, having noticed that the Asian male had been watching her.

"What?"

"You're a natural. All beauty on ice."

Teresa feels her cheeks flush red and she's gonna blame it on the cold weather, "A-And you? Didn't you say you could skate?"

"Well, technically yes, but I after seeing Thomas fall, I don't know..."

Teresa chuckles and grabs his hand to bring him along with her to the middle of the rink, avoiding the couples passing by.

Kira and Jamie were holding hands as they spun around, laughing happily.

**_Oh!_ **

The other skaters started throwing their bodies into it, two or three even jumping like they were professionals on the ice. The loud speakers pumping with the volume of the music. Minho and Teresa each grabbing one of Kira and Jamie's hands and skating around the rink.

**_White Christmas_ **

Thomas and Newt continued skating, the werewolf slowly letting go of the witch's arms held in front of him to see if he could stand alone without any help; when he didn't fell, he called it a victory. He raised both arms up in triumph and almost fell but he managed to stay on his feet.

Newt chuckled and slowly they both started gliding around the other, eyes not leaving the other, until they slowly and unintentionally came to a stop facing the other, all the background noise ignored.

They found themselves staring into each other's eyes, a soft smile appearing over Newt's face as Thomas watched him in awe, puffs of hot air leaving him as he admired how beautiful the witch looked with the rosy of his cheeks and the redness on his nose before two little kids skated right through them, 'breaking the spell' and reminding them that they were supposed to skate. Thomas grabbed Newt's hand.

**_I'm dreaming of a white Christmas_ **

Thomas brought Newt's hand to his lips and kissed it before continuing.

* * *

Aris parked the truck on Theo's driveway, stepping out of the vehicle and walking towards the house. He rang the bell and waited. It took a couple of minutes before the door finally opened and Theo came into vision in the entryway.

"Hey, I came here to pick Brennan for dinner."

"He already left." Theo turned around and walked further into his house as Aris made his way in, "Said his friend Quinn had tickets for a movie and tagged along with her."

Aris closes the door, "And you didn't go with him? Wow, that's some self-restrain there."

Theo smirks, "Give some of us some credit; not all of us are deprived creatures of the night in seek for some warm touch." he teases with the smirk still on his face before it's cut off by a series of coughs.

Aris watches him as he coughs, "Can't handle some windy days?"

"Of course I can. I've had colder nights in my cell, this is nothing." but he coughs once again, even having to turn away and bend a little.

Aris, not a total asshole as he seems to be, steps closer to the werewolf, "Here, let me." and he puts his hand over the other's forehead to feel his temperature. He wasn't warm, so he didn't seem to have a fever.

Aris took a step back and stared at the werewolf's face for a few seconds before saying "Theo, your eyes."

The werewolf frowns, not knowing that his eyes were actually glowing in that moment. After a moment they stop glowing but Aris continues to stare.

"Wanna lay down for a bit? I can make you something warm." the witch offers.

Instead of the typical 'you can't cook shit', the werewolf nodded and went to the living room to lie down on the couch while Aris went to the kitchen.

* * *

Dick and Rey pushed the cart through the aisles of the grocery shop, the store already complete with Christmas decorations and soft tunes playing on the speakers. As Rey grabbed some vegetables and put them in the cart, Dick slowly pushed the cart, arms resting over the bar.

"Alright, so, what do you think Alec would like to eat?"

"Steak."

Dick gives her a look, "He sure knows how to eat."

"I also like steaks. Nice and juicy."

"Okay, so steak, curly fries, pasta-"

"No garlic!"

"No, of course no." he chuckled, "You know, you do have similar tastes. Must be a family thing."

Rey halted for a moment but quickly recovered and continued walking beside Dick.

"...Y-Yeah, must be that."

As they walked past the cereal aisle, Dick took a quick glance at the girl before looking at the front where he saw a new brand of cereal with a family portrait and the slogan: **_'Choco-froot-crumbs means happy family!'_** _._

He shook his head and decided to finally ask the question he'd been meaning to ask.

"So... how is living with Alec like? Is he too soft? Or strict? I mean, sure he can be strict when he needs to, but usually he's cool. Does he help you with your homework? I bet he does, especially in Math."

Rey frowns, "What are you doing, writing a paper or something?"

"I just want to know that you're both in a comfortable position and that neither of you is having... troubles living with the other." _'And especially if he plans to adopt her.'_

Rey stays quiet, thinking about it as they move to the ice-cream section. "...It's nice." she stops and so does Dick, "It's been so long since I've had a feeling of belonging... of having a family. Alec and my friends give me that." she states with a small smile.

"So if you had to live with him forever, would you?"

Rey looks at him, "I thought that already was the plan."

Dick smiles and ruffles her head, beanie and hair equally, and watches as the girl brings her hands up to swat his hands with a chuckle. The blond man decided to buy an extra pint of ice-cream just for that.

* * *

Back at the skating rink, while Minho was deciding who between Kira and Jamie were better at spinning, Thomas and Newt were gliding, doing laps around the rink.

The werewolf was now able to stand on his feet for more than two seconds without falling but still needing to hold onto his boyfriend's hand. Newt was sure that Thomas could now be able to stand on his own without his help but it was cute that he had to make an excuse to hold his hand.

Teresa was sliding away from the group, nodding and smiling at the people skating past her, and when she reaches the end of the rink, she turns around to go for another lap but stops.

There, right ahead of her and in the middle of the rink was something sprouting out from under the ice.

With a frown on her beautiful face, Teresa slowly made her way there, ignoring the voices and people around her, eyes glued to the front. Once closer, she could see a familiar plant standing visible.

Mistletoe.

Teresa gets down on her knees, not caring the cold seeping through her jeans or the odd looks, and stares at the plant, wondering how it appeared here, or how was it able to grow on ice.

It wouldn't really matter, right? It's not something she can do about.

But just when she's about to get up and leave, she sees something under the mistletoe that catches her attention, so she stays down.

With her gloved hands, she wipes away the frost so she can see what's under the ice, the image blurry; when she finally cleared the way, her eyes focused on the ice with an expressionless face.

Newt smiles at Thomas as the werewolf gives his first spin without falling.

A sharp scream startles Thomas and Newt, who quickly turn around -like the rest of the people skating- and to see a hysterical Teresa kneeling on the ice and screaming at nothing, being held by Minho who tried to calm her down with no avail.

* * *

Minutes later and after making sure that no one was hurt, Teresa sitting over one of the benches nearby, having finally calmed down and staring at the distance while hearing people skating.

Thomas and Newt were speaking to the deputies that had been guarding the rink, assuring them that everything was fine.

Teresa continues to stare and doesn't even move when Minho sits beside her, offering her one of the hot chocolates that he bought.

"You cold?"

Teresa looks at it and thankfully accepts it, grabbing it with one hand as the other held the jacket draped on her tight. She doesn't even remember bringing a jacket, so it must be Thomas or Minho's.

Minho takes a sip from his drink and nods at Thomas' direction, "Bet that Thomas is trying to convince the deputies that you're not on drugs or running down with a fever." he jokes while taking another sip.

"It would be so much easier if that were the case."

Minho stops drinking, his lips barely touching the edge of the plastic cup. "Why you say that?"

Teresa doesn't answer.

Minho looks at the front, thinking about it before licking his lips.

"Teresa, you still didn't told us what you saw."

"Nobody needs those images in their head."

"You have them."

Teresa slowly turns to look at him, blue eyes glassy, "Because there's no other choice. I have these... voices in my head, these feelings and nightmares and-" she stops mid-sentence, "I don't want anybody to go through what I've been through."

They stay in silence after that, occasionally taking sips from their hot chocolate.

"Sorry I ruined the afternoon." Teresa says, looking down at her cup.

"You kidding? It was starting to get a little boring here out in the open, the girls showing how much better they are at spinning than me and with Thomas and Newt being all love-dovey. I'm sorry, I love them but they should not eat in front of hungry people." he pauses for a moment before explaining, " _'Eat'_ meaning acting like a couple and _'hungry people'_ being the poor single souls like me."

"Yeah, I got that."

"I mean, rude." he takes another sip.

A smile creeps into Teresa's face and the girl tries to dissimulate it with her cup but at the same time she feels happy that this hadn't turned out that bad.

Thomas and Newt soon joined them with the girls, the deputy walking away and apparently satisfied with whatever Thomas told him.

The werewolf clapped his hands, "So... wanna do anything else? Because I'll assure you, tomorrow I'll be locked in my room, surrounded by books and studying harder than any of you have seen me."

The other three chuckle. Kira pulls on Minho's jacket to have his attention and once she has it, he lowers so he's at her height and she's able to whisper something over his ear.

Minho stands up straight again, "A movie would be nice." he proposes.

"And popcorn." adds Teresa.

"And ice-cream." adds Newt.

"And those gummies that are shaped like animals!" Kira and Jamie say.

"So that's what we're gonna do? Fat?"

"Min, you love all of those things."

"To the closest grocery!" the Asian male yelled, raising his arm to the air and they all cheered.

* * *

At the end, they went back to Minho's house and bringing down Minho's mattress to the living room so they all could sit instead of on the hard ground. They first suggested using the living room's cushions but no, Minho's mom would strangle them if they dirtied her couches. And so, Minho's mattress it was.

Once they brought down pillows and blankets to cover themselves, the snacks were next. They brought to the living room all the snacks they bought and after choosing what movie they should watch -one that was suitable for all ages-, they each took their seat on Minho's mattress and the lights were turned off except for the one on the stand near the window.

Hours passed and soon, Minho's parents were back. Nadeshiko was the first to enter the house and when she did, she stopped mid-step after watching the tender scene over the living room.

Thomas was in the center of the mattress, head thrown back and on top of the couch behind them that they were using as a headboard.

On his right side was Newt, gripping a blanket over his body while cuddled to the brunet, his head resting over Thomas' chest and one leg tangled with Thomas' right leg. Thomas' right arm was wrapped around him in a protective way.

On his left was Minho, his head resting over his ribs and at the same time, Minho was holding Teresa on one side, hugging his body with a teal blanket over her, and on the other side were the two girls, completely passed out and sprawled between Minho and Thomas' legs.

They all seemed pretty comfortable, so Nadeshiko decided not to awake them.

Instead, she told her husband to not do any noise so they wouldn't wake them up. As Ken went outside to feed Judge, Nadeshiko went to the TV and turned it off, and then walked towards the lamp over the stand and, taking a last look at the children, she turned that one off as well.

The kids deserved to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They deserve a good day before this gets bad....


	5. Weaponized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, I hope that the week off from this fic was good for you, guys! Although I too hope that you're ready to continue!!  
> Okay, so first things first!: I dedicate this chapter to a certain someone because.... *drum roll* It's **waterisntreal** birthday!!! (don't know gender and I don't want to assume, sorry!!) Anyways, happy birthday dear!!! I really hope that at least this chapter, although it won't be a super happy chapter like the last one, I do hope that you at least enjoy it~

Before going to school, the pack received a call from Aris asking them to meet at the mansion, that it was important. They didn't argue with him.

Minutes later, Gally and Aris had gathered the pack inside Aris' vault; Thomas and the others gathered around a big and circular table that had 9 vials -one for each member of the pack- with a sort of blue liquid in front of them. They stood behind one vial each.

"What's that?" Theo asks, nodding to the vials.

"I made a potion that should protect us from whatever is affecting everyone else, especially supernaturals." he points at Thomas, "You told me that people at school were starting to show symptoms of being sick and that the bodies the police found were supernatural-"

"At least one of them confirmed."

"Well, at least one of them, but they had the same dark veins over their faces, necks and arms. And Theo, the other day you kinda felt feverish too."

"But I feel better now."

"But it might happen again."

"And we need to be prepared." Gally adds.

"And whatever is happening with Alec... do you think it has to do with what's going on?" Rey asks.

Silence.

Aris sighs, "Listen... I don't know if it's effective against this... whatever it is but at least it's something."

Thomas looks at the rest of the pack and nod; they nod back, picking up their vials and staring at it.

Aris raises his vial at them, "Cent'anni! May you live a 100 years."

At the same time they all drank the potion in one gulp, hoping for the best.

* * *

([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vydnFMCazE&feature=youtu.be)) Early in the morning on the first day of the exam week, every student was making their way into their respective classroom to take the test.

Thomas and Minho entered their classroom and went to the teacher's desk to grab an exam and sign their names on the paper of 'Present'. The brunet sat near the window and Minho sat beside him on the other line, letting his backpack slide to the ground.

Aris and Gally were already sat in their Math class, watching as the teacher checked the calculators of the students for any sign of cheating. They exchanged a look before looking away.

Teresa smiled politely at Miss Deavor as she delivered her test and grimaced at thinking what a pity it was that Rey wouldn't take the test after all her study.

Newt kept his eyes to the front, waiting for the bell to ring while hearing the mutterings of _'I hope that what I studied appears in this exam'._

He heard a slight snort and turned to see Theo slouched on his seat; the werewolf locked eyes with him and nodded. Newt returned the nod and looked back at the front.

Thomas quietly observed the front of the classroom at Mr. McKenna as Minho crossed himself beside him.

In every classroom, the respective teacher repeated the same speech of 'you've studied all week, now show that you really worked hard' kind of style before the bell rang:

"Begin."

* * *

One of the worst things while taking a test or exam, is that suddenly you are hyper-aware of everything in your surroundings. Like the constant tapping of the pencils against the paper or desk, or like the subtle muttering while trying to figure out the correct answer, or the biting the tip of the pencil because you're nervous.

Now imagine _all of this_ but with Thomas werewolf's enhancement.

Thomas was about to go crazy. Not only he had his own issues, now he could hear everyone's perfectly! Every _tap-tap_ , every mutter, biting, eraser on paper, and he started feeling a little hot under the collar. He needed to calm down and just do this! He studied for this, he can do it!

Thomas hears the door open and looks up to see one of the teachers enter the classroom and walk towards Mr. McKenna on the desk, quickly starting to talk to him about something Thomas can't hear very well. He's more interested in what is the answer of question 5.

Suddenly, a girl sitting over one row and ahead of Minho and Thomas collapses on the floor, having everyone's attention as well as stopping the exams.

The teacher who just came in quickly made her way to the girl and kneeled beside her, calling her name as she helps the girl sit up. Mr. McKenna didn't move a muscle.

"Mandy? Are you okay?"

Thomas, as well as the rest of the class, keep watching as the girl softly nods, telling the teacher that everything is fine.

"Eyes on your tests, guys."

The girl -Mandy- brings a hand to her head, "Sorry, I just... I was having a very hard time with one question and then I started feeling kinda dizzy."

The teacher helps her get up and the girl sits back down on her seat to resume the test. Another student suddenly sneezes and Thomas watches as Mr. McKenna quickly turns to look at the guy who sneezed. An odd feeling stirring over his chest.

Over another classroom, Newt was answering his test rather quickly, all the studying really showing off when he suddenly sneezed. A girl beside him offered him a tissue and he thanked her; then he went back to his test.

He didn't notice that Theo stopped his pencil for a moment to watch him after he sneezed.

* * *

Over the station, Vince was sitting over his office, going through the files of the recent murder case -the one with the werewolves- when there was a knock on his door. He looked up to see Dick there, silently asking permission to enter.

Vince nodded and the blond man entered the office, arms over his chest and looking down at the files over the desk,

"Still nothing on the murder case?" Vince shook his head, "If Alec were here, he would've already figured out something..."

Vince sighs, "I know. But I told him to rest just one more day before coming back, I don't want him to collapse again."

"Me neither." he stays silent for a moment before saying "How's Thomas?" at Vince's confused face, he elaborates, "Rey told me that they're having exams this week, so I wanted to know if he's as stressed as she is."

Vince snorts, "They are teenagers taking exams that will define their grades for the future; trust me, they both are."

"Good to know."

* * *

After the test was over, Newt had another class with the Biology teacher. While she was explaining what they were gonna do this class while writing it over the board, Newt was writing down the instructions. The blonde girl sitting in front of him -Ashley, I think- turned around and asked Newt if she could borrow his eraser. He gladly gave her one and she thanked him and went back to her notes. Newt did the same but noticed that there was a drop of blood on his seat. It hadn't been there before and it's not from him, he doesn't have any cuts or anything.

So it must've been Ashley when she turned to him. Since the girl was in front of Newt, he couldn't see what was happening, so it was a shock to him and to the rest when the girl suddenly stood up from her seat and ran out of the classroom, ignoring the teacher's calls.

Finding it weird, Newt stood up from his seat and told the teacher that he would make sure Ashley was okay; after saying that, he also left the classroom and ran after the girl. He knew that she must've gone to the bathroom, so he followed there. Once standing in front of the girl's bathroom, Newt was deciding whether knock first because it's the girl's bathroom, or enter just like that because a) he wasn't there to peek on the girls or anything, he's not a pervert, and b) he just wanted to make sure that his classmate was fine.

So he decided to knock once and then enter.

Newt knocks once, "Ashley? Are you okay?" and then, without waiting for any answer, he pushes the door open.

As Newt opens the door and enters the bathroom, he sees Ashley standing in front of the mirrors, her back at him. Ashley looks up from tending to a nose bleed and meets Newt's eyes over the mirror, "It won't stop!" she whines.

* * *

Thomas was walking down the hallway when he caught Newt's scent mixed with a little of blood. That rang bells and Thomas suddenly found himself running to locate the witch.

Newt was sitting on the floor, legs crossed, and back to the lockers while reading a book. Thomas ran towards him and when the witch noticed him, he stood up just in time for Thomas to approach him and looks at his sleeves and the blood on them and that made Thomas go Alpha mode.

He grabbed Newt's wrist to hold it up to see the blood. "You're bleeding."

Newt chuckles, "No, no. It's not mine. A classmate had a nose bleed and I helped her get to the infirmary. Some of her blood stained my clothes, it's fine."

That calmed Thomas down.

"Sorry."

"For what? Worry?" he kisses Thomas on the cheek, "I think it was sweet."

Thomas flushes but accepts the compliment. Bringing his arm around Newt's waist and bringing the witch closer to him, the two start walking through the hallway.

"So, how was your test?" Newt asks.

"Not so difficult. Oh, and a girl kind of passed out."

"What?!"

"Uhu, ask Minho if you don't believe me. I think she was too stressed by the exams and she had a mini break down, but she was fine at the end. Enough to be able to finish her exam."

"Wow."

Thomas decided to change the subject. "So, what do you want to eat after school?"

"You're taking me for dinner?" Newt asks confused.

"We survived the first exam. That deserves a reward."

"So food?"

"Yes, food! So? What do you want to eat?"

Newt nuzzles against Thomas' chest, "Mmm, pasta. The one you know how to cook so delicious."

"I think you mean the _only_ pasta I know how to cook."

"That one."

Thomas looks down at the witch, "My house?"

"Yes, please~" Newt tilts his head to be able to kiss Thomas.

They separate from the kiss but Thomas continues to smile afterward.

* * *

At Alec's apartment, the vampire was coming out of his room and making his way towards Rey's room. He had been dispatched from the hospital since Sunday and although Vince wouldn't let him come back to work just yet, he was glad to be home. To be honest, he had been feeling quite good and the _'side effects'_ , like Vince called them, were actually pretty cool. He didn't need to drink his potion to go out into the sun. He found out that, while watching a sad movie, he could cry. Like, actual tears! He could eat food and actually enjoy it!

Sure, his strength and speed were gone, but hey, no more _'sun allergies'_!

It was like... like... like being human again.

_'Wow, that was a long time ago.'_

Shaking those thoughts away, he stopped outside Rey's bedroom door.

"Hey, Rey!" silence, "Rey?"

Alec knocks on the door and when he doesn't get any answer, he turns the knob around and gently pushes the door open, peeking inside and finding the bedroom empty. "Rey?" he steps inside.

Once inside the bedroom and no signs of Rey, he decided to walk towards where the laptop was on top of the bed.

"Can I use your laptop? Mine just froze out of the nowhere and after ten minutes of being like that it decided to just automatically update itself without my authorization." he turns the laptop back on, waking it up from its hibernation state, "I just need to check something real quick, so don't worry, I won't see your browsing history or do anything related to Microsoft's forceful implementation of its Windows operating system."

He hits the space bar and suddenly the screen turns black.

"Ow, now what?"

But instead of staying black -or like his own laptop, deciding to up upgrade- a soft tune starts playing along with a video ([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAUD64Fnkeg)) and Alec doesn't do anything but watch.

The video starts with _'Something I'm grateful for'_ written in beautiful cursive and shows footage of Thomas and the pack.

Thomas was in the main shot, apparently saying something when the camera moves to Minho and Teresa who laugh at whatever he said.

Then it shows Newt sitting on the floor, petting Chairman Meow as the cat happily allowed it.

Next is Theo, shown painting the lunar phases over the wall of his room.

The next one is Gally doing exercise in the garden before he's sprayed with water.

The camera moves to show Aris and Brennan laughing at the taller male before Aris' eyes widen and he drops the hose to run away from Gally.

_'Obviously the pack'_ Alec thought.

The video then changes to show Alec being 'secretly' recorded while being in the station, talking to another deputy.

Another shot was of Alec in his pajamas while in the kitchen, holding an spatula in one hand as he danced around.

The next is Alec helping Rey with her math homework.

Next is one quick footage of Rey recording herself over the mirror wearing her prom dress while Alec was next to her, the two of them making faces at the reflection.

The next is Alec smiling -full teeth- at the camera before looking down at whatever he was writing with the smile still on.

Alec hits the space bar once more to stop it, staying still in the same position beside the bed and staring at the laptop's screen, not knowing what to do with this overwhelming feeling washing over him, softly biting his upper lip.

* * *

Thomas steps outside the cafeteria and to the open area with tables for lunch time. He was texting Alec and asking him how he was feeling today -just like he saw Rey doing earlier- when he looked up and saw Minho. He puts his phone away and slowly started making his way towards Minho.

Minho was standing perfectly still near one of the tables, his back at Thomas and looking at something far ahead. Not even sure if he was looking at something, actually.

"Minho!"

Thomas frowns when there doesn't come any answer.

"Minho?"

Thomas starts making his way towards his friend, hurrying his step just in case because to be honest, he was a little worried because this was not typical Minho behavior.

Once he gets to his side, he finds Minho looking ahead of them at the nothing, not even acknowledging Thomas' presence, arms at his side and holding his History book in one hand.

"Min."

Minho continues to stare and Thomas is worried, so he reaches out to touch his arm and automatically Minho drops the History book. Once it touches the ground, Minho snaps out of it, blinking a few times and turning to look at Thomas.

"Minho, wha-" he frowns, "what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Thomas, I-I saw it. Just like in my dreams."

"Your dreams?"

Minho nods, "I had them a few nights ago. It's always the same. I see bright lights, bright a-and colorful lights. I hear loud, harsh noises, like explosions... I hear them playing while someone is screaming. Screaming down in the dark somewhere. But I can't see who it is..."

"Minho, those were just dreams."

"What if they aren't?"

Thomas frowns for a moment before understanding what Minho tries to say. "Min, you haven't had any visions for a while. You told me yourself."

"I know, but what if-"

"Look," he puts both his hands over the raven's shoulders, "It was just a dream, ok? You are allowed to have dreams. Good and bad. Not just visions that hurt you."

They stare at each other for a while before Minho lets out a deep breath and closes his eyes, nodding at Thomas' words. Once he opens them, it feels like he just dropped a big burden.

"Thanks, man."

Thomas pats his back, "Good to have you back." he kneels to grab the book and while still kneeled, he looks up while Minho looks down, "Hey," he takes a hold of Minho's hand, "If you have that dream again, just tell me, alright? Doesn't matter if it's late or too early in the morning, just... talk to me."

Minho nods, really appreciating his best friend's words.

And just in that moment, Aris walks past them, a smirk over his face as he yells,

_"You two, get a room!"_

Thomas and Minho realize the position they are but don't move to let go of their hands or Thomas to get back up. In fact, Minho intertwines his fingers with Thomas'.

"Screw him, he's just jealous of our love."

Thomas sincerely laughs, doubled in half -literally- and about to fall forwards if he continues laughing.

After passing Thomas and Minho's 'love-fest' in the outside, Aris continued his way back inside the school building, almost colliding with the substitute teacher.

"Sorry!"

Miss Deavor smiled, "No, I'm the one who's sorry, darling, I wasn't watching where I was going." and then continued walking towards the stairs.

Aris did the same -he continued his way towards his locker when he saw Theo near his locker, his forehead resting against the cool metal and his eyes closed.

Frowning, he decided to approach the werewolf until he was standing right beside him.

"Theo?"

No answer.

"Theo? What are you doing?"

_"Resting."_ came the mumbled explanation.

"Resting? In the middle of the hallway and while standing?"

"Show me a law that prohibits it and I'll stop."

Aris rolls his eyes and pokes his side, "Come on, mutt, we have class-" but at the moment he pokes him, Theo actually growls and steps away from Aris' touch.

The with is confused but notices where he had touched and suddenly he thought of something.

"Theo, let me see."

"..."

"Theo-" he goes to grab his shirt but a clawed hand stops him, wrapping around his wrist. Theo is softly growling at him, eyes changing gold back and forth. "Theo, let me see." he repeats firmer.

The werewolf seems to realize what he's doing and slowly let go of Aris' wrist, leaving red marks over his skin.

Aris doesn't step back, in fact, he steps forwards and slowly -and after making sure nobody is looking their way- he lifts Theo's shirt and his eyes widen when he not only sees that the bruise is still there and bigger, but that there are dark lines coming from the original bruise.

"They appeared yesterday. I didn't think about it because you gave us that potion but..." Aris' fingers softly dance across the bruised area. "I really did feel better when I told you this morning. I just felt tired minutes ago."

Aris suddenly steps back.

"I need to go back to my vault. I need to go and check the potion. If Gally asks, tell him, please."

Theo nods.

"...Theo, put away the claws." Aris said in a hushed tone, looking around because wow, nobody has noticed anything. That's gotta be luck.

Theo was confused even as he stared at his claws, which were out even though he knew he puts them back in. Theo immediately clenched his fist, digging his claws in his skin and hiding them. The blood dripped down his sleeve as he pretended nothing was happening.

After a moment, Theo opened his hand again to reveal his clawlessness.

Aris watched the whole thing, and after a gentle squeeze on the werewolf's hand, he turned around and left the school.

* * *

Rey was walking back home after school was over when she decided that she wanted something to drink. She stopped at the nearest convenience store and soon was standing in front of one of the fridges to get one V8 juice and maybe another for Alec, and maybe even Dick if he was around. As she grabbed the three beverages, she found herself surprised when she turned around and saw Brennan in the same aisle.

"Hey,"

He smiled, "Hey. Shopping?"

"Naah, just some cravings. You?"

"Same." he says holding a green bottle of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. "How was school?"

They talk as they walk towards the cashier lady and pays for their stuff.

"So tomorrow you have more exams, right?"

Rey whines, "Ugh, you have no idea. But hopefully I will pass all of them and have a nice winter break."

"Cheers for that." Brennan jokes while holding up his Ginger Ale.

Rey smiles back and 'clinks' her V8 with his drink, like you do on a toast.

* * *

At a coffee shop, Minho was paying for his and Teresa's order when the Asian male noticed that Teresa seemed a little down. Just like he had been before. After thanking the barista and moving aside so others could order and while themselves wait for their orders, Minho nudges her a little to have her attention.

"Something the matter?"

"Mm? No, why?"

Minho sighs, "I'm gonna repeat what Thomas told me today: You know you can talk to me, right?

"I know, Min. I just... don't know, feel weird."

"We all are weird."

She smiles but shakes her head, "No, not like that."

"Do you feel sick?"

"No, no. Actually, I do not. So I guess the potion Aris gave us works."

"Yeah, me too. I don't feel sick."

"Then we're safe."

Minho smiles, "That's a good thing."

Teresa smiles too but suddenly makes a pained face and winces a little after feeling like she had just been picked by a needle over her hurt arm.

Minho noticed it and suddenly his face became worried, "You okay?"

Before she can even think of an answer, she winces as the pain comes back magnified by five and she actually yells in pain and her -and Minho's- eyes widen at seeing her bandaged arm start to bleed, quickly covering the entire thing until all you could see was red.

Panic and pain filled her, and ignoring while Minho and costumers watched her, she brought her other hand to her arm and quickly started to rip her bandages off her arm until it's free for everyone to see, bright as day, carved in her bleeding arm:

**NOT ALONE**

* * *

After having her arm cleaned -luckily this establishment _does_ have a first aid kit and one of the employers had knowledge in first aids- and bandaged again, Teresa was sitting on one of the park's benches, staring at her cup of mocha with Minho sitting beside her. They hadn't said a word and Minho wasn't gonna pressure her to do it. He could wait.

Five more minutes of only sipping from his coffee before Minho finally spoke,

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know."

Minho looks at her, "So it wasn't there when you... you know."

"No. There were just slashes, not words carved in my skin!"

Minho holds both hands up, "Hey, easy, girl! I'm not judging, I'm just trying to understand."

"Well, join the club. I have no idea how those words appeared nor what do they mean."

Minho puts his coffee down beside himself and turns to face Teresa,

"Teresa, look at me."

The girl doesn't want to but does so either ways.

"I know that being a banshee must not be easy. Being a seer myself isn't easy either. I mean, I can see things happens, whether horrible or not, but you can actually sense death. You see it and that... that sucks." Teresa's lips tremble a little and her eyes look a little glossy, "Okay? It does, and I'm sorry that you feel awful because of that and that you think that you don't have anyone to talk to, but you're not alone. We are with you. Thomas, Newt, Aris, Gally, Theo, Brennan, Rey and me. We're always gonna be there for you." he holds out his pinky at her, "I promise."

Teresa looks into Minho's dark eyes and sees the confidence and truth in his eyes and nods, a small watery smile on her face while she brings her hand towards Minho's and holds out her pinky and locks it with his.

* * *

Alec was alone at his apartment. Rey had texted him to tell him that she was spending the afternoon with Brennan after meeting him by chance and had demanded that Alec would call her every two hours to check on him. He doesn't know why but that makes him smile and his heart jumps -wow, that's so weird to think after so long.

Since going to the station was a no-no by Vince -and Rey-, he had been doing some office work from home; he had been so focused on it that he hadn't realized that he hadn't eaten at all in all day and was starting to feel hungry.

And then, once he was standing in front of the fridge, came the dreaded question:

"Would I still like blood?"

To answer himself, he opened the fridge and grabbed a thermos; he took a sniff of the thermos and when he didn't gag, he took it as a good sign. His lips touched the rim and soon red liquid was making its way into his mouth with one quick gulp, and the little gulp turned into a full-on swallowing the blood until the thermos was empty. His mouth was completely red.

Alec thought that that would be enough but his eyes followed the fridge. He opened it again and grabbed another thermos and drank from it again. And the next one, this time spilling some over his chin and shirt.

The three next thermos were following the other empty ones on the kitchen island, which had blood stains over it.

When one thermos wouldn't cooperate to open, Alec smacked it against the island and it cracked. As he drank from it, the thermos broke and all the blood inside spilled all over Alec's front, blood splattering all over the floor that it looked like a horror movie.

"Ow, fudge!"

Quickly grabbing a tissue, Alec got down on his knees and tried to clean the floor but it was only making the mess even bigger. He raised his hand and saw some blood dripping, so he decided to lick it clean, too immersed in his blood-lust to even heart the door opening and someone stepping in.

Alec wiped his hand over his pants before he heard a voice coming from behind.

"Alec."

The world stops and so does his heart. No, no, no, no. Not this person, here, right now, no, no.

Dick was standing over the entrance of his house, looking at the brunet kneeling on the floor cleaning something red that he probably spilled. That's what Alec might had made it look like, but no, Dick wasn't stupid. He was an FBI Agent, he's been in crime scenes, he knows how blood splattered on the floor looks like.

Alec, trying to still save from dignity from this situation, turns around to face him, although that might make it worse because he's covered in blood as well. Looking like he'd just killed someone and please, don't let Dick think that!

"It's...! It's not what you think!" he pleads with tears in his eyes.

"Alec,"

"I-I mean, I know how it looks, but I swear, I'm not usually like this!"

"Alec,"

"I'm sure you're wanting an explanation but I'm sorry, I can't come up with one that doesn't make you want to put me in Eichen House and-" he turns around so his back is at Dick, " _Please_ don't hate me."

"I know!"

Alec stops moving and talking because, although those two words hadn't been yelled at him, they were said in a powerful tone, one that made him stop.

Slowly turning to look at the blond man standing ahead of him, Alec watches him, chest heaving as he dreaded for the worst. Maybe it's not what he thinks it is. Maybe it's another thing... but Dick is staring at him, in a firm posture but calmed face as he repeats himself,

"I know."

The vampire understands right in that moment, no need for repeating. His world feels like it's collapsing over him.

"Oh my god. Oh, no. No, no, no, no- Since... Since _when?!_ "

"The day after Rey invited me over for dinner. I found your thermos at the station and decided to do a nice gesture: so I washed it and was going to buy you some coffee but all that came out was blood. It terrified me for a moment, that's for sure, but... but then it made 'click'. Everything about you suddenly started making sense, and I couldn't believe I was so blind in not noticing before."

Alec stays totally still, like he couldn't believe what was happening, this couldn't be his life. "...You've known for 3 months and didn't think to tell me? Why?"

"Does it make any difference? You're still you, only now I know you drink blood and that the sun will literally burn you." he takes another step closer, "You're still the same Alec." he shakes his head, "It makes no difference to me."

Alec should feel relieved, that this situation didn't go the way he expected, it went so much better than any other scenario he could have imagined but something's wrong. Something over his head and his chest, where his heart is pumping like it had stopped doing long time ago.

Bringing a hand to his chest, Alec takes a deep breath before his eye rolls over into his head, his mouth is left ajar, and he falls forward.

Luckily, Dick was there and had watch everything that happened; he ran and was able to catch Alec before he fell on the ground, bringing him closer to his own body.

"Alec? Alec?" he shakes the younger man, who continued being still and with his eyes closed, _"Alec!"_

* * *

Dick brought him to the hospital as fast as he could, carrying the vampire in his arms as he pushed the doors open with his foot.

"Help! I need help!"

Luckily, Mary was around and didn't question the blood covering Alec; she helped him move Alec into a wheelchair and into a room before anybody ask about the blood.

"He's unconscious." Mary says once done checking Alec. He had pulse, his heart was beating, which she still considered creepy. "Don't know why, nothing seems to be causing it. What were you two doing before this happened."

"We were talking and then he- he grabbed his chest and was about to fall but I caught him."

"Maybe he's had a harsh day and his brain thought it would be a good idea to let him rest for a bit. Now, you," she tells Dick, "you need to go home. Don't worry, I'll take care of him. Once he wakes up I'll tell you, don't worry."

Dick didn't like the idea of leaving him after what happened and their unfinished conversation but knew he had no other choice. "Okay, just let me make a call and then I'll leave."

Minutes later, Rey steps into the room where Alec was sleeping on the bed. Dick was standing beside the bed, leaving an unoccupied chair -which he brought closer to the bed- for Rey.

The vampire girl approaches the bed and after looking at the peaceful face of Alec, she looks at the muscular blond man.

"Thank you for calling."

"I thought you wanted to be by his side for when he wakes up."

Rey smiled at Dick. "Thanks," she sits on the chair beside the bed and grabs one of Alec's hands into her.

Dick takes one last look at Alec and then turns around to leave them alone.

* * *

After having everything prepared over his house, knowing that both Vince and Mary would be working the late night shifts, Thomas calmly made his way to Newt's house by walking all the way from his house -it was a lovely although chilly night- and besides, they would go back in Newt's car and he didn't mind some fresh air.

The pasta was waiting for them in the kitchen, as well as the duvet and pillows and the TV, ready for a great night. A moment to relax before tomorrow having to go to have another stressful exam.

Thomas finally arrives at Newt's house and he rings the bell and waits. A minute passes and nothing happens. He tries it again but nothing. He knocks on the door but there's no answer either.

Frowning, Thomas takes a hold of the knob and when it twirls around, indicating that it is unlocked, Thomas' brow furrows even more. He slowly opens the door, minding that this is not his house and that he shouldn't walk around like it were.

He clears his throat and calls out for Newt but there's no answer again.

Shaking away the worry, he uses his werewolf hearing and can tell that there's only one person in the house, upstairs. Newt.

Sighing, Thomas closes the front door behind himself and goes upstairs.

_'Newt's probably in the bathroom or still getting ready and that's why he couldn't hear me.'_ Thomas thinks while making his way upstairs, _'And stupid me, jumping to stupid conclusions.'_

Thomas hears some noise coming from Newt's room and hears his mate's heartbeat. Yes, there he is.

Entering Newt's bedroom, he finds it empty but he notices that the light of the bathroom is on and the door is ajar, meaning that the witch was there. Thomas pushes the door to open it completely and sees Newt bent over the sink with his back at him. The witch, obviously having sensed his presence, slowly straightens up.

"Tommy... something's wrong."

Thomas frowns as he takes a step further inside at the moment Newt straightens up, looking at Thomas through the reflection of the mirror.

Thomas' heart stops when his eyes meet Newt's in the mirror and sees black blood running down Newt's nose. The witch turns around so they're facing each other, holding a bloodied paper on his right hand.

"It won't stop." the witch says with a small voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me :) See you next week with a better and longer chapter ;)


	6. Thank You For The Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: the next chapter will be up over December 4th!!  
> my lying ass: *actually does it like 5 days later after that date*
> 
> SOOOOOOO SORRY!!!!! But my laptop (and my internet) are being a pain in the ass and won't let me do my stuff (meaning: no write or read fics), so yeah, and I've been having the worst sleeping cycles these past weeks, so I decided that since I'm awake around this time (6:30 am over here, people) and I go to sleep around 8 or 9 am (no joking) and wake up at 2 or 3 pm (again, no joking) to finally -and at least- upload this chapter before it gets too late. I still don't have the last chapter of this season finished but I assure you that I'll try to have it in December... hopefully. I know that at least I want to finish this season and then another hiatus (yay!) beofre the next season, so I can have a few chapters written before start publishing them. So again, thank you for your patience!!!

Thomas was driving as fast as he could, ignoring the beeping from other cars, his only concern was the blond witch sat on the co-pilot seat. Newt kept a tissue over his nose and watched Thomas' determined face.

"Thomas. The bleeding stopped, you don't have to drive like a maniac."

"You've forgotten you've been poisoned or has it already reached your brain?"

"Maybe it's just a nosebleed."

"Yeah? When was the last time you had a nosebleed?"

Newt stays silent, and Thomas only steps on the gas.

Arriving at the hospital was an easy task, especially if you drive like a madman and ignoring all the vehicular rules. Thomas practically kicked the doors open, helping Newt stand up with one arm over Thomas' shoulder. There were too many people around, like oneof those crazy nights on Halloween or New Year, many nurses and doctors running through the hallways and helping the patients.

Reaching the reception desk, Thomas quickly leans over it, letting go of Newt since the other kept telling him that he could hold himself perfectly fine.

"Is Mary here?" he asks one of the nurses behind the desk.

"I don't know." she says while typing something on the computer before going around the desk and ignoring Thomas.

"Where is she?!"

"I don't know, kid! Can't you see this is a zoo right now?" she then grabs one of the patients that had blood coming from his mouth and took him away.

Thomas stood there, a growl wanting to come out but he kept calm; he helped Newt into one of the available seats. Newt sat beside a guy that appeared to have some trouble breathing.

Thomas looked around and was so ready to just go around the hospital to find Mary when he saw her coming out of the elevator, taking off her red stained gloves and putting them in the trash.

"Mary!" Thomas runs towards her.

"Thomas, wha-"

"Don't have time! I need you to help me." he grabs her by the arm and pulls her to where Newt was sitting beside a guy who was struggling on his seat.

Before Thomas can tell her anything, it's Newt the one who speaks, "Check him first, please. I think he's having trouble breathing."

Mary nods and kneels to the guy's side to try and make him look at her and tell her what was bothering him. The guy then pushes aside to make room for himself and vomits on the floor. As he gasps to breathe normally, Thomas and Newt look down to the floor to see the contents of his stomach:

Splattered over the floor seem to be, along with vomit, a bunch of mistletoe and leafy greens.

* * *

Half an hour later, Thomas was outside of a room, watching through the small window on the door as Newt was having his pulse checked by a nurse. Minho was there with him, since he called his best friend while panicking and in a few minutes after the call, Minho was already at the hospital to support him.

"I don't understand. Newt took the potion like the rest of us.

"We don't know if it has to do with whatever is going on. Maybe it really was just a nosebleed."

Thomas hears him but isn't looking at him; he's looking at what's happening inside the room: looking at the nurse telling Newt something and Newt nodding at her, rolling down his sleeve and apparently thanking her.

"Minho, if I lose him-"

"Hey, no. No, nothing of that, you hear me?" Thomas glances his way with unshed tears on his eyes, "Don't torture yourself with those kinds of thoughts, ok? He's here, the bleeding stopped and by the looks of it, the nurse didn't find anything wrong with him." he says while pointing at the door, where the nurse smiles at Newt. "So don't give me that Romeo & Juliet crap, alright?"

Thomas chuckles, the sound coming a little watery but that's because a couple of tears slipped from him. He wipes his eyes with the heels of his hands, "Thank you for coming."

Minho pats him on the back, "What are best friends for?"

Moments later, the nurse comes out of the room and the two teens straighten up, waiting for her to turn to them.

"He's fine." they exhale in relief, "It was just a nosebleed, but luckily it wasn't too aggressive."

"Can we see him?" Thomas asks.

She smiles, "He's all yours." and the nurse turns around and leaves, to attend to another patient probably.

Thomas and Minho enter the room just as Newt is putting and tying his shoes over the edge of the bed. He looks up at them and smiles.

"How you feeling?" Minho asks.

"Stupid. I'm sorry for causing panic just because of a nosebleed."

"You kidding? Once when I was little I made my mom drive me to the ER to have a stomach pump because I told her that I had eaten Judge's food and she was worried about it. Turned out Judge's food at that time was just some meat & rice that my grandma made for him as a special 'diet'. This was nothing."

Newt smiles and even softly laughs at that story. He then looks over at Thomas, who hasn't said anything.

"What about you, Tommy?"

"Maybe you shouldn't go to school tomorrow."

"What? No. No, I'm going. I have an exam, remember? Besides, I'm feeling fine."

"That's what they say and then 'bam', down on the floor." Thomas mutters. A moment later he sighs, "You sure?"

"You would be the first to know." he softly smiles, "Really, Tommy. I'm fine. Sorry I scared you."

"You didn't scare me."

"Yes, I did." _"Yes, he did."_ say at the same time Minho and Newt.

Thomas rolls his eyes and turns his face to the other side to not look at them but he allows the soft hand reaching for his. He squeezes it.

* * *

The next day at school, Thomas and Minho had their Math test first and then Biology. Rey had decided to skip this day as well because for her, Alec was first, and he needed her there in the hospital. The pack promised to help her study for the missing exams. Newt had History first and then Sociology, so unfortunately Thomas wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him during those classes.

Minho patted Thomas' back and told him that he would go ahead to choose their seats. Once he was gone, it was only Thomas and Newt.

After the hospital and bringing Newt home, the witch was able to make Thomas drop the offer of staying there to take care of him. He appreciated but he didn't feel off, so he wanted to be able to get some rest for tomorrow.

Newt closed his locker and after giving Thomas a smile, he turned to leave but Thomas has other plans.

"Hey!" he grabs Newt's arm, stopping the blond. The witch looks back at him, waiting for Thomas to say what he wanted, "Just... be careful around Mr. McKenna. I know you can't help it but if you have to cough o-or sneeze, please try not to catch much attention."

To Newt it seemed a weird request but seeing the look in Thomas' face made him understand that it actually meant something serious to Thomas, so he nodded.

They held hands for a moment before letting go.

Thomas watch him go and decided that it was time for him to go too, and so he did.

After some minutes into them, exams were already halfway through when the first sneeze came. At first, nobody seemed to notice. But then there was another followed by two more, or some coughing.

Soon, another student complained about sore throat to the teacher.

The teacher tried to take it easy and tell them to finish the test, when other students started coughing too.

Thomas watched as the teacher stood up from her seat on the desk, phone in hand, and cleared her throat to have everyone's attention.

"Everybody stay in your seats. I'll, um, I just need to go outside for a moment. Eyes on your tests, guys."

And just like that she leaves the classroom.

Once outside, the teacher lets out a heavy sigh, hands on her hips before straightening. She peeks inside another classroom and watches that the same was happening: students coughing or sneezing. Could it be...?

She's startled when the main doors open and three students enter the school, making their way inside before she screams at them to get back outside, heart about to jump out of her mouth.

The students, although confused by the woman's behavior, do so and turn-tail and leave, while the teacher runs down the hall to reach the door and lock it behind them.

Hearing the commotion, some teachers -and students- rush outside their classrooms to see the teacher taking out her phone with panic written over her face.

"Go back to your classrooms!"

From inside the classroom, Thomas hears the teacher dial a number which turns out to be the operator assistance and ask for the number of the CDC.

The Center for Disease Control.

* * *

Not much time later, agents with the CDC, dressed head to toe in yellow bio-hazard suits are seeing entering the school. The students watch as they quickly proceed to set up a quarantine area in one of the larger classrooms for the students who started showing signs of being ill. The outside of the school is also covered in clear plastic, parents and citizens standing outside at a safe distance with worried looks on their faces.

Vince arrives outside the school and comes out of his patrol car, watching the school like the rest of them.

Back inside the school as suited men and women rush back forth, the teacher who called the CDC asks about an update and when she doesn't get any details, she goes back to her students, hoping that it's a false alarm and that she's the crazy biology teacher who panicked for nothing.

Thomas, along with the rest of his class, was standing with Minho at his side over the corner of the classroom, watching as the CDC did their thing. The werewolf tried to tune out the whispering and hushed conversations between his classmates to try and hear some of the agents' talk.

"Man, I studied so hard for this test and I can literally feel how the answers are washing away from my brain." Minho complained with his arms crossed over his chest.

Thomas kept his head looking ahead, "It's difficult to hear their conversation but I don't think they've seen something like this before."

"Oh, there goes another. Bye-bye, differential equations."

Thomas frowns, "Maybe the teacher was not so wrong in calling the CDC."

"Do you remember the exponent rules? Because I do not."

Thomas looks around the classroom and his wolf whines the lack off his pack in this situation. 'I hope they're safe.'

Outside the school, Vince approaches one of the CDC agents in a yellow biohazard suit as she's talking to her team.

"Excuse me. Can anyone tell me what we're dealing with here?" he asks.

"Hopefully, a false alarm. The details provided have concerned us and your local health authorities enough to order a quarantine. We're going to need your help ensuring that no one gets in or out of the school."

"That won't be a problem. The teachers know how to react under this kind of situations. They're not going to let any student out and we'll keep anyone from entering."

"I hope you're right, sir."

Over the History test, Newt was watching as some students huddled together, whispering between them about the possible outcomes while Newt was trying to keep his eyes on the sub teacher without it being too obvious that he was staring. He wasn't sure if he was succeeding, but he really couldn't care right now. To be honest, he was starting to feel a little dizzy and the need to sit down was strong but he felt that if he moved to try and reach a chair he would fall. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening his eyes again in time to see someone moving to stand in front of him, blocking him from prying eyes.

Theo kept his eyes to the front, acting as casually and calm as he could while shielding the witch, hearing his erratic heartbeat behind him.

"You looked a moment away from passing out." he said without turning around.

"Sorry."

Theo glances at him, "Does it hurt?"

"Kinda."

Still looking at the front and, making sure that no one was paying attention to them, he brought his arm behind and slowly reached for Newt's arm. Once he had a hold on the witch, he concentrated on trying to take Newt's pain and after a moment of being like that he frowns, his hand twitching before the witch removes his arm from his grasp.

"Thanks,"

"I was trying to take more pain."

"Just like this is fine. Really." he offers a smile to the werewolf. "How do you think the others are doing?"

"Honestly, I hope they're fine and that all of this just ends before it gets worse."

* * *

Teresa patted a classmate's back as she was thanked for giving the girl a tissue to blow her nose, the girl saying that it was her dumb allergies, and the cold into the mix wasn't that great.

As she moved back to her spot near the window, she saw as Aris entered the classroom without anyone asking questions and made his way towards her.

"Aris, how did you escape your classroom?"

"It's a school, not a prison. I heard them say that they would isolate the sick, so unless any of us starts showing any signs of sickness, we'll be fine." he looks at the girl, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, I don't feel anything. You?"

"Same. All I feel is bad for the ones that actually studied and now it's all gone to shit."

"I'm sad about that too."

Teresa looks at the teacher as she helps a student sit on her chair after the girl started looking a little pale.

"I just hope this isn't as bad as it looks."

* * *

Thomas kept looking at the agents as they helped some students who looked sick lie down on the beds they brought in and his mind suddenly went to Newt and last night. He had been terrified when he saw blood coming out of Newt, even when the witch told him he was fine, Thomas didn't want to take any risk. No way in hell he's gonna lose anyone from his pack, not if he can prevent it.

_"Thomas."_

The brunet looks around, having been sure that he heard a voice calling for him but he's also sure that it didn't come from this classroom.

_"Thomas, can you hear me?"_

Minho notices his friend's antics and looks at him, "What is it?"

"It's Theo."

_"Thomas, I'm here with Newt. Aris and Teresa are in the other classroom, don't worry, we're fine."_

Thomas exhales.

"They're fine. They all are."

Minho understands and also exhales in relief, but at the same time looks around to check that no one was looking their way.

Back at the History classroom, Newt leaned back until his back was against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I don't like this."

"Neither of us does."

Newt opened his eyes and continued staring at the front while Theo made sure that no one notices Newt.

"Theo... since when teachers take notes on which student sneezes and how many times?"

Theo frowns. He turns to see what Newt is meaning and there he sees it: Mr. McKenna standing near his desk, acting like he's also worried about this but that doesn't stop him from taking notes on his little notebook. His eyes roam around the classroom and when another student sneezes, he writes something down. Then, a girl almost falls over as her legs tremble and he writes that down too.

"I think we're in trouble. We gotta get you out of here." he turns his face as if he were speaking to Newt, "Thomas, we need to take Newt out of this room. The creeper teacher you told me about? He's here, and he's making a list."

_"Of what?"_

"I don't think we want to stay around to find out."

Slowly so they aren't detected, the two of them start moving towards the other side of the classroom in an attempt to reach the door.

"Newt, can you make us invisible right now?"

"I can try."

"Good." he grabs Newt's hand and once they're close enough without having aroused suspicion, Theo squeezes his hand. "Don't worry, just do your thing."

Newt nods.

As the witch closes his eyes and focuses for the right moment to use his magic, a student on the other side of the classroom suddenly throws up, having everyone's, including Mr. McKenna's attention, and that's when Newt turns them both invisible and run towards the door.

They open it and shut it before running out in the hallways until they reach the stairs, avoiding all of the CDC agents in the halls until they reach the top of the stairs and Newt's invisibility stops.

Theo and Newt double over at the top of the stairs, trying to catch their breath for what any other day would've been a normal race.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Newt says.

"Be my guest."

The blond witch goes to the bathroom and locks himself inside. Theo waits outside and makes guard so that nobody appears nearby. When two minutes pass and the witch doesn't come out, Theo knocks as soft as possible.

"Newt, you there? Newt?"

_"Go bring Aris!"_

"Wha- Newt, open-"

_"Just- please!"_

* * *

At the hospital, Rey was sitting over the chair that she brought closer to the bed, holding Alec's hand while watching the vampire sleep. Alec had still not woken up and it was worrying everyone, especially Rey.

First he looked really sick, then he looked better as if he were alive, and now? The beeping of the machine calmed her down a little because that meant that he was still alive. Even when before he wasn't really alive because of being a vampire.

Rey continued to caress Alec's hand when an idea came to mind. It sounded stupid and so silly but right now she didn't care. Making sure she was really alone and no one was around to hear her, she cleared her throat and softly started singing,

**_Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing_ **

**_Thanks for all the joy they're bringing_ **

Rey gulps a little, feeling a knot over her throat, but continues,

**_Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty_ **

**_What would life be?_ **

**_Without a song or a dance what are we?_ **

**_So I say..._ **

Her voice breaks and so does she, never letting go of Alec's hand.

* * *

Aris' phone vibrated inside his pocket, so he carefully took it out and checked the incoming text. After reading it, he put his phone back and -after asking Teresa to remove the cuff- told her to wait for him. Then, he approached the teacher in charge of this classroom.

"Miss, can I go to the bathroom? It's kinda urgent."

"Yes, yes, but please come back as soon as you can."

Aris nodded and went to the bathroom. Once there, he made himself invisible and left the bathroom to go upstairs and to the other bathrooms were Theo was waiting outside. He made himself visible again and the werewolf turned to him.

"Good. You're here. He locked himself in there and I have no idea what to do."

Aris walks until he's in front of the bathroom's door. He knocks lightly,

"Newt? Are you alright?" he tried the knob but it wouldn't work, "It's okay, I'm coming in, alright? Just me, like you asked."

Nodding at Theo, Aris phased through the door and entered the bathroom, looking at Newt holding onto the sink with trembling arms.

"Are you alright?"

Newt turns around, wiping the water from his face and nods. But Aris frowns.

"I can tell you're using a glamour spell." Newt freezes, "Why are you doing that? Is something wrong? Take it off."

Newt seems hesitant, but after a moment of just standing there, he makes a move of his wrist and the glamour slowly falls off.

Aris' eyes widen and he takes a step back after watching Newt's current state.

"We need to find Thomas."

* * *

Minho came back to Thomas' side after going to the other group of students over the other side of the classroom and talk with them.

The Asian male stood beside Thomas and started talking,

"Okay, they're saying that their phones aren't working, so apparently the CDC is blocking the signal so that there's no panic outside or something like that, which means we can't communicate with the others nor with our parents."

"That means we can't communicate with Vince and tell him this is something supernatural." he sighs, "That sucks."

Thomas moves to cross his arms over his chest and sigh when suddenly he feels a touch-almost-caress over his shoulder and he turns around but finds no one there. Confused, he turns to the other side and nothing, but then again he feels the same touch over his back. "Whoa, somebody touched me."

Minho snorts, "Yeah, right. This is the perfect time for being a perv and, no offense, but the perv is going to touch you when I'm standing right here and available-" his sentence is cut short when he feels a hand over his bicep that makes him stop almost immediately. "Okay, I believe you."

The two of them turn invisible without anyone noticing, people around more interested in what the hell was going on than on some missing teenagers. They were led by Aris to the stairs and to the outside of the bathroom on the second floor. When they arrived, Theo, Teresa and Gally were already there.

Aris let go of them and they turned visible again, but before they could ask what was wrong, Aris steps forward and towards the door. "You need to see this." he says directly to Thomas.

The werewolf understands and nods. He follows Aris as the witch opens the bathroom's door and they enter the bathroom, only to find that it wasn't empty as Thomas thought.

Newt.

Thomas frowned in confusion, "Newt?"

The blond witch had his back at them and Thomas could see how rigid his back was after hearing his name. Slowly but so tortuously, Newt turned around to face his boyfriend and that's when Thomas finally saw it.

_"Tommy."_

Newt looked sick. Not just tired or 'I didn't get much sleep last night', no, he looked legit sick: sunken eyes, pale face, chapped lips, even his hair looked damaged and not shiny like always.

Thomas' eyes move to the uncovered arms and there were black veins over Newt's arm, these ones more prominent than the ones from before and that terrified Thomas.

Instinctively, Thomas found himself stepping forward and reaching out but he's stopped before he can do anything.

"No!"

Thomas stops.

"W-we don't know if it's contagious, and I don't wanna risk you-"

But Thomas doesn't want to hear none of that and hugs the witch close to his body. Newt stills for a moment, but then allows himself to have this moment and his arms go around Thomas' back, hands gripping his shoulders.

Thomas' hand moves to cup the back of the witch's head and he presses his nose against his pulse. Still there, still there.

The pack stood over the door, watching the scene and praying that their friend would be okay.

"I woke up with these but they were lighter. And then with Aris' potion I thought they were gonna disappear but they continued growing a-and I had to use a spell to conceal them. I didn't want you to worry, I'm so sorry."

"So what does that mean? Did Aris' potion work or not? Did it somehow made this worse?"

"Hey!" both Gally and Newt said at the same time.

"No, no. Don't blame Aris for anything; we don't even know what happened or what is happening and I don't want to point fingers." Newt said.

Gally nods.

"Maybe..." Aris starts, having everyone's attention, "Maybe it doesn't have to do with the potion, but has all to do with the person."

Thomas frowns, "What?"

"What if, the potion helped because the people who took it were already gonna be fine, but it's not working on the ones that one way or another were gonna get infected. I mean, we all took the potion and only you and Theo are showing symptoms?"

Minho looks at the others and back at Aris, "So are you telling us what? That some of us are immune and others aren't?"

Thomas and Newt exchanged worried looks.

Aris grimaces, "I don't wanna rush anything but... it's most likely."

Thomas' hand found Newt's and they intertwined, holding hard.

* * *

Back at the hospital, all that was heard was the beeping from the heart monitor that filled the silent room; even after hours, Rey was still holding an unconscious Alec's hand when the heart monitor slowed to a stop. Rey turned her head to the monitor and watched in horror/sorrow as the jagged line of the monitor flatten and straighten. The ominous flatline emits from the monitor and the room is filled with that high-pitched sound.

Alec's head falls to the left, a single and his last human tear sliding down his cheek.

* * *

"Okay, so what now?"

The pack were still inside the bathroom, away from the rest of the school population. Thomas and Newt were sitting on the floor, the blond witch resting his head over the werewolf's shoulder. Gally and Theo were standing near the door, Teresa was standing with her back against one of the sinks, while Minho was leaning back against a stall.

Aris, who was on the farthest side of the bathroom, said "I need to go to the mansion and see what I did wrong with the potion. Maybe there's something I overlooked."

Theo, arms crossed over his chest, spoke, "Sorry to disappoint, guys, but we all can't disappear from school. Someone's gonna notice. Don't know if you've noticed, but we're a pretty big group."

"We need to get Newt out of school before someone sees him." Thomas says as Newt coughs a little.

Aris nods, "Okay, so Thomas and I will get Newt out, you stay here."

"I'll go with you." Gally steps forward, "Still gotta keep an eye on you."

Nobody questioned it.

"Okay, so you'll go and we'll go back to the classroom to avoid questions." Theo said, ready to reach for the knob when there's a knock on the door that startles them.

"Mr. Jones? Is everything fine?" came the voice of a teacher, "You've been there for quite a long time."

Aris steps forward, "I'm fine! I'll be out in a minute!"

They waited until they heard the steps of the teacher leaving and were sure that she was gone.

They sighed in relief.

"Now they're definitely going to notice our absence." Aris said.

"We'll need a distraction."

Thomas turned to look at his best friend. Minho noticed that he was being watch and turned to look at the werewolf back, immediately understanding what was going inside his head. He grinned at Thomas,

"I don't need gasoline to start a fire." he holds up his hands, "All I need are these two hands and a lack of supervision."

* * *

While Minho and Teresa went to the Chemistry lab, Gally, Aris and Theo went back to the classroom while Thomas and Newt stayed hidden in the bathroom to wait for the other witch to come and get them.

While waiting in the bathroom, Thomas was pressing against the door to hear if anyone tried to come in or was nearby. Newt was leaning against the cool tiles, eyes fighting to stay open and trying to look at Thomas.

"Come on, come on, Min." Thomas muttered under his breath.

"He better hurry or someone's gonna wonder why the bloody hell this bathroom isn't working." Newt jokes, jerking his head a little.

"It'll be fine. We just gotta wait for Minho to do his thing."

Thomas walked towards Newt and brought his arm to wrap around his shoulder, nuzzling his forehead against Newt's.

Almost fifteen seconds later and they heard a loud explosion. Immediately, all the students, teachers and CDC agents look around, wondering what the hell was that mixed with panic. Aris grabbed Gally's hand and taking advantage of the confusion, he Disapparated them from the school. Moments later and he appeared in the bathroom, went to Newt's other side to help Thomas with him, and Disapparated the three of them.

Inside the chemistry lab, Minho holds both arms up in victory and with a big grin he says "Told you I'm awesome!"

Teresa grabs his hand and they run out of the lab before anyone can see them.

* * *

Vince was speaking with several of the agents in a tent outside the perimeter of the school while his deputies tried to maintain order farther away, where other students, parents and townspeople were starting to agglomerate. And still no sign of what could be the virus inside the school.

He was so invested in the investigation that he didn't noticed Rey there, having run all the way from the hospital after Thomas didn't answered his phone. From what she hears as she tried to made her way through the students, there were students trapped in the building with a possible lethal virus. Her mind went instantly to the pack.

She reaches the front part but as she tries to make her way towards the school, a deputy stops her, taking a hold of her forearm and gently pushing her back behind the line.

"I'm sorry, kid-"

"No! _Please_ , my friends are inside!" Rey tries it again but she's once more stopped.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go in."

Rey stays where the deputy told her to, bringing her hands to her hair and pulling a little, feeling another knot over her throat and the desire to just scream in frustration and sorrow.

* * *

Thomas, Newt, Aris and Gally Apparated over the mansion, the one place they know they were safe, and went directly to work. Aris ran upstairs to his vault while Gally went to the kitchen to get some water and towels to Newt.

Thomas carries Newt to the couch and gently lowers him over it, brushing the wet strands of hair away from his face.

"How you feeling, Newt?"

Newt has both eyes closed but attempts to smile, "Better with you here."

Thomas grabs his hand and kisses the back of it. Gally comes back with the water and offers it to the blond witch, giving the towel to Thomas so he can clean Newt's face and chin.

Noise could be heard from upstairs.

"How's it going, Aris?" Gally yells to upstairs.

_"Don't rush me, you big oaf!"_ a mini-explosion and the sound of bubbles could be heard, _"I'm just checking that the potion I gave you hasn't actually make you sick! Just that!"_

Gally rolls his eyes but doesn't say more.

Just as Thomas is putting the glass of water down and cleaning Newt, his phone starts ringing.

Not letting go of Newt's hand, Thomas takes it out with his other hand and after seeing the ID, he answers, "Rey? Listen, this might not be the best time-" he pauses as the girl continues talking, "W-what? Whu-how? When-" he takes a deep breath and nods, even though the other can't see him. Aris comes downstairs, empty handed. "Okay, I'll meet you at the hospital." he hangs up and turns to the others.

"Is everything alright?" Aris asks.

"No, it's not."

* * *

Thomas makes Aris Disapparate the two of them while Gally stays with Newt to take care of him.

Thomas and Aris arrive at the hospital and reach Alec's room, where they find Rey already inside, standing beside the bed and looking at the body on it.

Closing the door behind themselves, Thomas takes two steps forwards and just gets a glimpse of Alec's arm and stops.

No. No, no, no, no, no-

You know how you can tell when someone is just sleeping or is actually dead? Usually voices or a loud noise would awake the person. The up and down of their chest as they breathe. The color of their skin and even the expression they have.

Alec didn't react when they all entered the room, nor when Aris closed the door. There was no up and down of his chest; in fact, he was immobile. The expression on his face... he looked almost... calm. Like he didn't need to worry about anything else ever again, and that might be true. There was a dried tear that went down his cheek and had disappeared on his pillow.

Alec was not sleeping.

"It happened so fast..." Rey says out of the sudden, "So fast, I couldn't do anything just... watch him."

Thomas feels how his wolf wants to howl at this loss. It's awful. He takes a step forward and dares to grab Rey's cold hand. She lets him.

"Why did this had to happen?" Rey asks to no one in particular.

Thomas doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't say anything. Instead, he turns to look at Aris; the brunet witch had both arms crossed over his chest, one hand over his chin and his index finger tapping against his lips. And that look in his eyes... The same one he has when he's thinking.

Without having to ask, Aris opens his mouth and says "If it is what I think it is, it's a virus designed to kill supernaturals. I mean, yeah, there exist several of those, but this one must be to not only kill supernaturals... But to kill immortals, too. Immortals like Alec, me..."

"Wait, wait, wait! You're telling me that someone created a virus that can kill even immortals? B-but who... Why?"

"Someone who hates supernaturals, that's who." Rey says with venom in her tone.

"That's a good thing, then."

Thomas frowns, "Why is it a good thing?"

"Because whoever made the virus also had to make an antivirus. It's a common law: whether it's for you or for negotiation, always have an antidote."

"So now we just need to find whoever did this and get the cure? Why doesn't it sound easy?"

"Because probably it won't."

"I don't want to sound rude, guys, but I really don't care about finding a cure right now. Alec is gone, there's nothing that can be done to that." Rey says.

Thomas felt awful for almost forgetting that they all could be well once they get the cure. But it was late for Alec. It shouldn't had been late for Alec.

Meanwhile, Aris approached the side of the bed where the big machine was and stared at it for a moment before following the line of the plugs.

"Did you unplugged them?" he asks while kneeling on the floor.

Rey turns to him, "No. The nurses did. They allowed me to keep him here for a little longer, although I heard them talking about moving the body to-" she stops for a moment before continuing, "-to the morgue."

Aris grabs one of the plugs from the machine, almost inspecting it, and before he can be told 'no', he plugs it again and after a moment the machine starts working and a faint but definitely real 'beep' fills the silent room.

The three people present hold their breathe.

"That's impossible." Thomas mutters.

"B-but I can't hear a heartbeat! Thomas?"

Thomas focused his hearing, closing his eyes and shutting every other noise off except for the one he was looking for. It took him a couple of seconds when he heard it. It was faint, shouldn't be there but there.

Thomas looks at Rey with wide eyes and then at Aris, "How-?

"You know it's almost impossible to kill immortals, right? That's why they're called 'immortals'."

"Like you."

Aris nods, "Like me."

"Okay, okay, okay!" this time it's Rey, "Okay, so he's alive, but we don't know for how long. We need to find that stupid cure now!"

"What about the nurses when they come back?"

"We'll tell them that there was a mistake."

"A mistake?!" Aris snorts, "Ha, like they'll believe us!"

While those two started going on about things that shouldn't be discussed at this moment, Thomas faintly touches the foot of the bed, near where Alec's toes would be underneath the sheets.

"But how did Alec came in touch with the virus?" he asked aloud.

* * *

After Apparating at the vampire's apartment, Rey stands in front of Alec's bedroom door and bringing a foot up, she kicks it and slams it open almost smashing the door to enter. Entering Alec's bedroom, Thomas, Aris and Rey immediately starts searching around the room for evidence that could help them understand how did Alec got infected.

While Thomas and Aris felt a little guilty to roam around their friend's room, Rey surely did not lose time; she immediately went to the bed and threw the sheets and pillows to the floor, even going as far as lift his mattress.

"It's gotta be fucking somewhere! _Ugghh!!_ " she drops the mattress and moves to the drawers while Thomas and Aris checked his closet.

"How we will know what we're looking for?" Thomas asks.

"I don't know, just-- Keep looking."

Rey was nearly feral -even after having drunk the potion-, tearing through the clothes drawers and emptying them, the clothes falling to the floor. She grunts as she moves to another drawer and turns it upside down but this one is different: not only clothes drop out of it. Rey watches as a folder with several papers drop as well, the papers spreading all over the floor.

Frowning, Rey kneels and recollects the papers to put them in the folder but a word catches her attention:

**ADOPTION**

"...What?"

Thomas and Aris continued moving around the room.

Still kneeled on the floor, Rey's hand hovers over the papers as she can't convince herself to touch them; she doesn't know how to feel.

Those late night talks with Alec, catching him smiling while reading something and when asking he would say 'oh, nothing, nevermind' but he would continue smiling, whenever he asked her about her day, the apartment, 'is it small or is it fine because we're only two people?', even Dick asking if she was happy living with Alec.

"He wanted to adopt me." she whispers.

She remembers Alec helping her on her homeworks -especially Math-, remembers discovering that Alec bought her a Christmas gift, the same one that's under their tree, the one that she wanted because she could never have one after her father died and Gillian didn't like Christmas. 'Too human' she would call it.

But when she told Alec, the next day there was a tree on their apartment and they spend the whole day decorating it and they talked about watching Christmasy movies and if Chairman Meow should wear a red Santa hat or a red bow.

She remembers the way she acted these last weeks and how even after that he still has these documents.

"He cares... he really cares enough to want to adopt me..." since she drunk her potion earlier, she can feel the tears sliding down her cheeks and a knot over her throat but at the same time a smile appears over her face. She brings the papers to her chest and hugs them hard, not being able to stop neither the tears or the smile.

Grabbing one of the papers, she brings it to her chest to hug and closing her eyes for a moment, a melancholic smile appears,

_'Yes'_ , she thinks.

Aris drops whatever he had in hand and sighs, "Thomas, whatever it was that could've infected him, it's gone."

The werewolf turns to the vampire on the floor, not having noticed that she was having a moment.

"Rey," she turns around, still clutching the paper, "what was Alec's routine?"

"Um, he," she licks her lips, "he got up early to go to work, after work he came straight home except the times that he had to go to buy groceries. Um, drop me to school, and he would also go and pick me up sometimes, whenever he could make the time."

Thomas and Aris looked at each other.

The school. The only same factor.

"The virus originated at school."

* * *

Meanwhile at school, while all the chaos with the COD was happening downstairs, trying to keep the students and teachers in a single place, at the Biology Lab on the second floor Mr. McKenna was seen sitting on a stool, holding up a vial with an amber liquid.

He smiles wickedly at it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe, people!! I love you all beautiful souls even if I haven't met you in person!!! So please, please, stay safe!!  
> (also, don't hate me too much for this chapter! I swear I'll make it up to you in the last one!!!.... kinda)


	7. I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021, my dearies!!!! I really hope that this year is better than the last one, for everyone, not just for me!  
> I'm soooooo sorry that I'm posting the chapter 'till today!!! After I promised it would be still on December (sorry for the ones waiting for it) but some stuff happened and then I didn't had the time to finish it. But hey, better late than never ;)
> 
> Anyways, with this chapter we get to conclude season 7!!! Yay!!! Thank you for joining me in this journey as well as the other ones!  
> Okay, so I also wanted to tell you guys that because I'm taking a certificate program (I start next week) I would go on a hiatus (shocker) until I finish the program, so no new season until around April.
> 
> I wanted to at least end this season so you wouldn't have to wait for it and then a hiatus for the next season (because I still feel very bad when I leave you hanging).  
> Worry not, that season 8 is currently under work!
> 
> And this time I'll try to have the full season -or at least enough chapters- before publishing them so there's no the chance of leaving you hanging for more.
> 
> Also, BIG shoutout for gleek_runner because it was her birthday on December 27!!! Lots of love, honey!! I wish you really good things this year!!
> 
> So, without any more delays, I leave you guys the last chapter of season 7!!! Enjoy!!

Thomas, Aris and Rey were still standing in the middle of Alec's room over the vampire's apartment. Mattress thrown upside down, one of the pillows having pushed the nightlight lamp off the mahogany nightstand, clothes out of the drawers and scattered all over the floor, the adoption papers in the folder still by Rey's feet.

"If the virus spread through the school then the cure might be there as well." Thomas says aloud,more to himself than to the others, "We need to go back to the school. We might find some answers there."

"Or death, death is what we might find." the witch says back.

"Aris-"

"No, don't _'Aris'_ me! You very well know I'm right! If the virus is at school then that's the exact opposite place you should go!"

"But what about Alec?" Rey asks.

"What?"

"What about Alec? And Newt? Are they going to die if we do nothing?"

Aris turns to Thomas, grabbing him by the shoulders, "Thomas, I know you want to save them, trust me, I do too. But you also know that going back there means getting infected. All of us. Is that really what you want as an Alpha? For your pack to get infected and die?"

"They are already dying, Aris." he pushes the witch's hands off his body, "And you're right about something: they're my pack. Our pack. And I'm not leaving anyone behind."

Rey nods.

Aris stares between the two of them and sighs in defeat, "Ok, if I die you're gonna be responsible for telling the Council why I died and the Luna Nova knights why Gally wasn't able to fulfill his mission."

* * *

At school, Minho and Teresa were standing over a corner in one of the classrooms after successfully being able to make their comeback without anyone noticing. They could hear some students wondering what that explosion had been and if it had to do anything with the 'disease' in the school.

"Do you think Newt's fine?"

"I'm more worried for Thomas."

Teresa smiles, "I know."

Mr. McKenna enters the classroom, not even bothering to cover that he hadn't been there and much less looking at any of the students. But of course, the teenagers didn't notice him either.

"Should we keep an eye on him?" Minho asks, not looking directly over him.

"Yeah, but not too obvious."

Minho nods.

Teresa looks around the classroom and watches as some of her classmates cough a little and others are comforting them, rubbing their backs or touching their foreheads to measure the temperature. But none of them looked like Newt had.

She suddenly feels a hand over her wrist,

"How are you feeling?" Minho asks.

"Actually, I feel fine. You?"

"Same."

"So this thing really only affects supernaturals and immortals, huh."

"Nothing better than a killer virus to make you appreciate that you're human, huh?" he jokes.

They stay silent once more, just looking over their classmates chattering among them, nobody suspecting that this event was more than it appeared.

Minho speaks again, but this time his voice sounded smaller than last time.

"Do... do you think that we should've said 'goodbye' to Newt?"

Teresa looks at him, "What?"

"You know... it's not that I don't want to be optimistic or that I don't trust Thomas or the others but... sometimes shit happens, and it happens to good people." he licks his lips, "So, I'm wondering... what if that was the last time that we would see Newt? Shouldn't we -as his friends- had said something?"

"Not a 'goodbye'; that would've sounded like we're admitting that he's gonna die. Thomas isn't going to allow it. You know it."

"Yeah, I know, I know. I-I just-" he exhalesin relief, "I just wanted to hear someone else say it aloud."

Their hands still touching, Teresa's fingers slowly move so they're closing around his and Minho does the same.

* * *

Thomas, Rey and Aris went back to the mansion; Newt was resting over the couch in the living room with Gally sitting beside him and touching his forehead to make sure he was feeling fine. Fortunately, Newt didn't look worse than before: he still looked pale and tired, sunken eyes and all and by the looks of it, the black veins over his arms were still the same. At least they hadn't gotten worse.

"We need to go back to the school." Thomas said as soon as they appeared in the living room.

Gally raises an eyebrow, "You do realize that's the same place we just got out of?"

"The cure might be there."

Gally just nods. Aris runs upstairs while Thomas goes over where Newt is. Gally goes to stand up and wavers for a moment, almost as if dizzy. He stabilizes himself before anyone can notice or comment about it and moves along.

Thomas approaches the couch and gently cups Newt's face, making the other slowly open his eyes and look at him.

"Newt? Hey, hey, Newt. Listen, we're gonna get the cure, okay? A-and you're gonna be alright." his finger brushes over the witch's cheek, "So hang in there, okay?"

The blond witch nodded at his words.

Aris came back downstairs as Thomas helped Newt up from the couch, sliding the witch's arm over his shoulder while his hand was over Newt's waist to hold him up.

"I send a message to Vince so he knows what's going on and what we're doing, so maybe he can help us." Aris said as he went to stand over the living room, the others already holding hands.

"Apparate us somewhere at school where no one can see us."

Aris nods and grabs Gally's hand, looking back at them.

"Hold onto your butts."

And Dissapparates them from there.

* * *

Vince was still trying to come up with a way to get inside the school. The CDC agents wouldn't allow him, saying that he wasn't trained like they were and that since they didn't know what they were dealing with, nobody could enter the school. As an adult and a police member, Vince understood that clearly; but as a man with a kid who he has helped raise his whole life and cares so damn much inside the school, his emotional, irrational side was giving a fight.

And so there he was, outside the school, really praying that not only Thomas but the whole pack and the rest of the student body were fine.

As he watches over the CDC agents talking to each other, trying to comprehend what was going on, a small shadow flies over him and he instinctively looks up.

A black crow flies past him and lands over the branch of the nearest tree, looking straight at him. They crow's eyes glow yellow and Vince knew that it was no normal crow: it was a magical way to communicate with someone else via a spell.

He walks towards the crow, making sure not to catch much attention, and holds out his hand, waiting for it to do its thing.

The crow blinks twice and turns into a black smoke that when it disperses, a note falls on Vince's outstretched palm.

Vince doesn't lose any time and opens it to read it, his stance becoming more tense by each sentence he read. After reading the note that was from Aris, he folds it into his pocket and turns around.

He makes his way towards his people and grabs one of the deputies by the shoulder, hauling him away from the other deputies' hearing range.

"I need you to get me Agent Stark here asap! I don't care how, but I need you to do it! Now!"

* * *

"Is this... the girls' locker room?"

Thomas and the others looked around the room Aris Apparated them, having been indeed, the girls' locker room.

"No one's going to be here at this moment. Plus, I always wanted to see what it looked like. Not what I was expecting, I must admit."

Ignoring that comment, Thomas returns them to the original plan.

"Now, if the cure is here, where would it be?"

"Somewhere no student would ever come in contact with by accident. The one who made this wouldn't allow something happening to it."

"Where do you keep substances like those at school?" Rey asks.

"Biology Lab?" Gally answers.

Aris shakes his head, "It's too easy. Besides, you would need the key to the cabinets and students aren't allowed to have them."

Thomas looks down at the ground, quiet for a moment before saying "...Like a sub teacher would."

"Yes, like a-" Aris cuts himself off, looking over at where Thomas was standing.

The werewolf looks back at them, "The other day, I was running late for class when I caught a scent. It was coming from the lab but before I could open the door, Mr. McKenna appeared behind and stopped me."

"You did mention that you didn't like him."

"It was... I don't know, weird. Eerie, the way he just appeared and talked to me. I think he was trying to stop me from getting inside the lab."

Aris shrugs, "Then let's get in there."

* * *

Minho was looking through the windows of the classroom, watching the CDC agents installed outside the school and the mass of people behind the police yellow tape, along with the police patrol cars. Some of his fellow classmates were chatting beside him, murmuring about being worried when and 'if' they would be able to get out safe and sound. Minho couldn't blame them.

Teresa started feeling a little itchy under her bandages and was a little bit worried of scratching too hard and making it bleed, so she needed to take a look at her arm.

Teresa made her way towards her teacher, "May I go to the bathroom?"

The teacher didn't even look at her, just nodded and gave her a bathroom-pass. She grabbed it and made her way out of the classroom, going to the stairs and to the second floor where the bathroom was. She was about to reach it but stopped in her tracks when she heard voices. She looked around, trying to identify where they were coming, since every student were downstairs and locked in their classrooms.

Following the voices, it lead her an empty classroom away from the bathroom, the voices coming from inside sounding louder as she got closer.

She reached the door and slowly opened it; she then stepped inside and found that it was empty. Also, the voices had stopped.

Teresa bit her lip as she made her way further inside, looking around the empty room.

When she decided that there was nothing weird or out of place in this classroom, she turned around, ready to leave when her eyes fell on the desk at the front of the class.

It wasn't the desk that caught her eyes, but the desk name plate with black letters that had **'EVELYN DEAVOR'** written on it.

Teresa tilts her head to the side and doesn't know why but she says the name out loud, "Evelyn Deavor."

Now, she feels an odd sensation curling around her body, only because she uttered that name aloud. But the way she said it...

"Evelyn Deavor. Evelyn Deavor." she couldn't help but feel a little silly repeating the name, like she was trying to summon some kind of malevolent force; she frowns when she realizes that there's something about that name, "EvelynDeavor... Evelyndeavor..."

Teresa frowns one last time, not knowing if she was getting somewhere but feeling that she had to, before saying it one more time aloud:

"Evil Endeavor."

Her eyes widen in realization and she gasps, a feeling of dread chocking her.

"Miss Wilde?"

Teresa abruptly turns around only to find Miss Deavor standing opposite of her, standing in front of the door.

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah. Um, sorry, you just startled me."

"Oh, sorry, kid. Didn't mean to."

Miss Deavor smile to calm her student and then looks over Teresa's arm, noticing the blood-stained bandages.

"You need to change those bandages. Let me help you." she moves aside, "Come on."

Teresa can't do anything else but to nod and follows the teacher out and to another room.

* * *

Thomas and the others carefully reach the Biology lab, making sure the door stayed closed while they search inside the classroom. Thomas gently pulls Newt's arm off his shoulder and helps him sit down on one of the empty seats. Aris and Rey stay by his side while he and Gally move towards the cabinets, open them and search through them.

All of the vials and jars had the names printed on the labels but they had to turn some of them around to get a good look at them, even move some aside to look at the ones in the back.

While looking through the cabinets, Gally takes a quick glance at Newt and back to the front, not stopping from searching the vials.

"I don't want to be pessimist about this."

"Then don't." Thomas answers without looking at him.

"But he doesn't look to be doing too well, and I believe he will just keep getting worse. He can barely stand up by himself. What are you gonna do if we don't manage to find the cure in time? Or the cure at all."

"Right now you're not being very helpful, Gally."

"Fine." he keeps searching, "But I just want you to be aware of the possibility that this might not go the way you want."

Thomas stops for a moment, feeling an electric current going down his spine all the way to his feet and feels his toes curling.

"I know."

And he reassumes searching.

At where Newt, Aris and Rey were, the brunet witch kept a hand over Newt's shoulder to keep him from falling down while looking over at Gally and Thomas. He feels the little tremors over Newt's body under his hand-

"If they don't find it-" Newt starts.

"They will."

"But if they don't..."

Aris chuckles, "Have you met Thomas? He's the most stubborn person I've met, and I've met a lot, and he will not stop until we find that cure." he looks at Newt and gives him a small smile, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Newt doesn't say anything, just closes his eyes and tries to concentrate in breathing normally.

_"Shit!"_

The two witches turn their attention to the back of the room at where the other two were, watching as Gally takes a step away from the cabinets looking frustrated while Thomas had his back at them, holding onto the edge of the counter and keeping a strong hold over it.

"There's nothing here that looks suspicious." Gally sighs, "It might not even be here."

It feels like a hard-swallowing pill, but before any of them can get the chance to let that feeling sink, Aris speaks up,

"Maybe it's not here 'anymore'."

"What?"

"Maybe he moved it. Maybe Thomas' actions alerted him and he was forced to move the cure somewhere else." making sure that Newt could manage without support, Aris makes his way towards the cabinets and taps the doors twice before blowing over it.

As soon as he blows over it, a yellow dust appears -almost like the powder they use in crime scenes- and they see as the dust settles down, marking a trail that led towards the door and outside the classroom.

"Follow the yellow brick road, Dorothy."

Thomas slowly raises his head and looks up, a stern look over his face.

"Let's go."

* * *

At the hospital, Mary was helping another patient to get to a wheelchair so they could take him to get checked as the other nurses did the same. They all had the same symptoms as the ones before, and Mary was sure that it had to do with what Vince told her. Looking up from her patient and at the main hospital door, she took a deep breath and hoped that Thomas and the others were better than here.

* * *

Over the teacher's lounge, Teresa was sitting over one of the seats while Miss Deavor went to the back of the room to get the first aid kit. For some reason, the wound under her bandages start hurting, almost twitching since she started talking to Miss Deavor and Teresa finds that weird. Miss Deavor comes back to her side and sits beside her so she can change the bandages. Teresa says she'll do it, since she doesn't want anyone looking at it; Miss Deavor understands and gives her a little bit of privacy as Teresa removes the blood soaked bandages.

While doing that, Teresa looks over the words carved into her skin: ' **NOT ALONE** ' and frowns. She shakes her head and her possible ideas of what could that mean and begins to wrap her arm again. After she's done, she gives the kit to the teacher and she puts it back on its place, before turning back to Teresa.

"Sorry again for scaring you." Miss Deavor says while looking really sorry.

Teresa shakes her head, "You didn't scare me, maam."

"Well, it appeared to me that you seemed a little tense and when I appeared out of nowhere, you seemed startled. So again, I'm sorry."

"I was just thinking and I... lost the sense of time. I'm worried about everyone."

"But you're feeling fine?"

"Yes, yes, I am. But still... I worry for the safety of others. I just- I just can't understand how is this happening?"

"Well, Miss Wilde, sometimes things like this happen. And there's nothing we can do about it, except be patience and allow the CDC to do their job."

Teresa nods, knowing the teacher is right but still... she knows that this is a supernatural thing, and what are the odds that the CDC will be able to find a cure to a virus that kills supernaturals and immortals?

Still sitting down, she turns her head and looks down at her arm, sliding one finger over her new and clean bandages in the form she knows the words are written. As she's doing that, a revelation of some kind appears to her and she stops touching her arm.

" _'Not alone.'_ " she mutters.

Miss Deavor turns to her, "Beg your pardon?"

" _'Not alone'_. I kept thinking about it, maybe it had to do with me? My friends or something but no. I-I think I know what it means." she glances at her arm, "There are two people involved in this."

The teacher frowns, "What?"

Teresa stands up, " _Th-this!_ This whole thing, the virus is not a simple virus! It's- it's one made specifically-" she shakes her head, knowing that all this information is not going to make any sense to her teacher. "That's not the point." she turns to the other side and sits down, lowering her voice so she's talking to herself, "I have to tell Thomas. There are two."

Miss Deavor holds her hands up, confusion written over her face, "Wait, wait, wait. I didn't quite catch the whole virus thing, but-" she goes to sit next to Teresa; the raven haired girl feels a tremor going down her back, "If- If there are two people involved in this, we should inform the police. As soon as we can!" she sighs, "I've read about many situations like this and if something goes wrong, the perpetrators must be desperate."

"Yeah? Desperate enough to..." Teresa looks directly at her, "...talk to me?"

The two of them stare at each other without moving a single muscle or saying anything. It wasn't necessary. They both knew this conversation had come to an end. Teresa grips tight the edge of her seat and feels a cold breeze over the back of her head just in time for when Miss Deavor suddenly launches at her.

Teresa manages to evade her, the woman only managing to rip away a few of her hairs before the teenage girl was running towards the door and out of there.

Miss Deavor runs after her but when she reaches the hallway she finds it empty. She looks around but unfortunately there's no signs of the raven girl.

An CDC agent appears and when he makes eye contact with the sub teacher, she acts as calm as possible.

"Miss, I'm gonna ask you to go back to your students, please."

"Yes, sorry. It's just that I saw someone suspicious-looking running towards that direction!"

The agent immediately follows her finger and after nodding and asking the teacher once again to go back, the agent goes to investigate.

Miss Deavor slowly makes her way back downstairs and towards her class.

From up over the vents, Teresa peers down as she watches Miss Deavor finally leave and lets out a relieved sigh.

* * *

The yellow track ended up taking them out of the Biology lab and down the school's basement and therefore the boiler room. Thomas kept his eyes on the ground, following the dust as the others followed right behind him. As they kept walking, they couldn't help but to wonder why would the sub teacher take the cure and hide it over the boiler room. Sure, students usually didn't go near there but it still seemed weird.

But it didn't matter why he had decided to hide it there; that was beyond the point. The main point was to find it, and quick.

Thomas turned around the corner and came to an abrupt stop when suddenly the trail ended right ahead, colliding with a hard stone wall.

"No." Thomas exhales, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no- Itcan't-"

Newt coughed behind him and Thomas quickly turned and went towards him, holding him in his arms as Aris took his place at the front.

Thomas slowly lowered Newt down on the floor and against the wall once the witch's legs started trembling and he couldn't keep standing more. His breathing was getting uneven and he could barely keep his eyes open. The black veins over his neck and face were more visible and nasty looking, and that black gooey blood substance-like kept coming from his mouth.

"Newt! Newt, how're you feeling?"

"Not gonna lie, been better." he tried to joke but the coughing stopped that. "Tommy, what's wrong? Did you find the cure?"

"I'm on it, don't worry."

Meanwhile, Aris was staring at the wall blocking their way, or apparently, just ending it. He's sure that something's wrong with that wall.

"Was this wall always here?"

Thomas looks at him and shakes his head, "No. No, that's why I was so surprised at seeing it."

Aris hums, getting an idea of what it could be; looking down at his right hand, he lifts it up until it's at the walls distance with the intent to touch and his hand goes right through it, the spell instantly disappearing and showing them that it wasn't the end of the room.

"It's a glamour." Aris says, taking his hand away.

Thomas helps Newt get up back and the four of them walk until they're watching the small tunnel that leads to the rest of the boiler room. The five of them keep walking until they reach the other side and see the big and red sprinkle control valve assembly, with all the pipes and valves that are connected to the sprinkler distribution piping and pumps, which leads the water to the fire sprinklers in case of fire.

These systems also have backflow measures built into them to ensure the water pH balance. Made with black steel pipe painted in red, this wet pipe system is also the most reliable, because they -the systems- are simple, with the only operating components being the automatic sprinklers and the automatic alarm check valve.

As they are watching that, Gally takes a step forward and looks at something else.

"That was definitely not there before." he says.

Thomas and the others turn his way and all are surprised to see a kind of secured room at the end of the yellow trail, obviously leading inside.

The room was painted white, the 'windows' were covered by metal curtains and so they couldn't see the inside and although you could see the shape of the door, there was no knob or any indication that it could be open from this side.

It looked just like a bunker.

* * *

After Minho noticed that Teresa had gone to the bathroom a long ago, and that Mr. McKenna was missing as well, he started feeling worried for his friend and decided to go look for her.

Approaching the front of the classroom, Minho wasn't even able to open his mouth before his teacher, looking down at some magazine he had confiscated sometime over the week and not even bothering to look up at him said,

"You know the rules, Mr. Lee. You're staying here until your classmate comes back."

Minho sighed and turned back to his original position over the corner of the room. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked around the room, watching over the rest of his classmates before his eyes landed over one of them.

Making sure no one was watching, he approached him as nonchalantly as he could, acting innocently as he stood beside him.

_"Psst,"_

That catches his classmate's attention.

Minho keeps his arms over his chest, not looking at the guy, "Hey, man. Wanna win five bucks?"

"What for?"

"I need you to make a distraction so I can slip away from the classroom undetected."

The guy makes a face as if thinking about the proposal, "Make it ten."

Minho grunts, "Fine." angrily he takes out his wallet and gives the guy the money, "Here."

The guy puts away the money in his pocket and nods at Minho.

Minho watches as the guy walks right in the middle of the classroom, hands inside his jeans pockets, keeping his head down so he wouldn't attract attention to himself before the show could start. When he was ready, he started acting as if he was gonna puke and the reaction was immediate: all the students around took three steps away from him, some covering their mouths, making gagging noises at the thought of somebody else throwing up.

The teacher, finally looking up from his magazine, notices the commotion and stands up to go and see what the ruckus was about.

As everyone kept their attention to the guy in the middle of the class, Minho slowly starts to make his way towards the door until he was able to slip out, looking around the hallway to make sure that there was no one who could catch him before he ran.

_"Minho!"_

Minho stops walking and looks around, trying to find where the voice came from but he doesn't see anyone.

_"Minho!"_

"God?"

"Minho, up here!"

Minho finally looks up and when he does, he sees Teresa over the vents, peering down at him. How did she got there?

"Teresa!" he chuckles, "Damn it, woman. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Minho raises both arms up high to help the raven haired girl to climb down.

Teresa sits on the edge and slowly makes her descent, feeling Minho's fingers and then his whole hands grabbing her by the waist and holding her steady as he lowers her. Her hands let go of the edge and she puts them over Minho's shoulders for support.

Finally, her feet touch the ground and she exhales in relief, smiling at her friend for helping her. Minho returns the smile, not knowing why in the first place but he doesn't think too deep into that.

They stay like that for a few, staring at each other with matching smiles, Teresa still holding onto Minho's shoulders and his hands still on her waist, not minding them -actually liking them there.

That's when they realize the position they're in.

"I'm gonna let go now."

"Yeah,"

"Yeah, just gonna-" he drops his hands away and takes a step away, "Yeah."

Silence.

Minho then remembers that time is running and decides that the rapid beating of his heart was for another day. "Not that I haven't seen my fair share of weird things in this town but what were you doing up there?"

Teresa's eyes widen, "Miss Deavor! She's the other one!"

"The other one?"

Teresa rips off her bandages and shows her carved arm to Minho, who reads the words and after a moment he finally gets it.

" _'Not alone'_. So that means there are two?! Two people who wants us dead, great!"

"Don't you see, Min?! We have to tell Thomas somehow. He doesn't know about Miss Deavor."

"Okay, okay, okay. But we also have people after us, apparently. I'll go and try to find Thomas. He must be here already. You go and hide." Teresa opens her mouth to refuse but he stops her, "Don't have the time, Teresa. Don't you understand? Only us know about them, we're a threat to them. You go and hide, don't come out until I come back, okay?"

She still seems unconvinced, like she's worried for him.

Minho smiles at her, "I'll find Thomas and come back for you. I promise."

Teresa nods.

"Now go, Teresa."

The blue eyed girl nods again and before leaving she gives Minho a big hug, her hands clutching at the back of his shirt.

"Take care, please."

Minho hides his face into her hair and nods before she takes a step backwards, separating them. After that, Teresa runs, leaving him alone.

Minho leaves out a deep breath, watching where Teresa had disappeared into and a smile finds its way into his face.

He scratches the back of his hair with that smile still there before turning around, ready to go and search for Thomas. Maybe he can ask Theo to help him-

"Hello, Mr. Lee."

Minho doesn't even get to take one step before he hears a familiar voice in the hallways and turns to see Mr. McKenna over the other side, hands inside his lab coat pockets.

"Going somewhere?"

"Umm, ye- yeah! I was going to the bathroom, teach." he said with an easy smile.

"And I assume you have the bathroom pass."

Minho's smile falls. Shit.

Mr. McKenna 'tuts' while walking towards Minho, "That's a shame, Mr. Lee. And here I thought you were a smart kid." he shrugs, "Oh well, I guess you'll have to accompany me somewhere else."

Before Minho could say no, he was being grabbed rather harshly by the arm by the teacher, who gave him a smile that only gave him shivers. He felt that if he tried to run, he would get in trouble and not 'school trouble' but 'real life trouble'.

"Now, Mr. Lee. This way."

* * *

Mr. McKenna dragged Minho inside the locker rooms by pulling him from both the forearm and the back of his shirt. Great. The locker rooms. As soon as he's harshly released, Minho starts coughing a little, wiping his mouth with his forearm and looking at his arm for signs of black goo.

"The virus doesn't kill humans. You'll get better." the teacher says.

Minho doesn't care about that, he cares more about the others. He really wants to be with them in case something bad happens.

"Where are your little friends? Mm? Come on, you can tell me. Maybe we can still save them."

Minho looks up at him with a stern look over his face, "Do you actually believe- Sorry, what I meant was... either you must be stupid or think I am because there's no way in Hell or Heaven that I will tell you that."

Mr. McKenna's fake smile slowly falls from his face. It's a 180 degree turn: since he knows that he won't be able to convince Minho that he's a good guy and that he's trying to help, he drops the act. His face becomes harder, no more smiling and calmly aura.

Minho can tell this is going bad.

Mr. McKenna sighs with a hand pinching the bridge of his nose, "And just when I thought I might not even need to use this, but," he shrugs, "You leave me no choice." from behind his pants and covered by his jacket, he pulls out a gun and points it at Minho.

Minho doesn't really know much about guns, only that they can kill you if pointed at you by someone who is clearly crazy and doesn't mind shooting kids.

"So let's make this a little easy, ok? I'm gonna count from 5 to 1, and if I reach the '1' and you still haven't given me an answer, I guess I'll just have to shoot you. Now," he points the gun in front of Minho, right at his head. "Shall we?"

Minho is really scared. He's not gonna lie and say he's brave with a lunatic pointing a gun at him. It's human instinct to be afraid of those kinds of things. But he's also more afraid for Thomas and the pack. If this bastard gets to them, maybe he'll stop them in the search for the cure and even kill them himself. And Minho was not going to let that happen.

Minho stands up straight, head high and looking into this man's eyes. If he's gonna shoot him, then he's gotta have to do it while looking at Minho in the eye and not like some coward who can't even watch what they're doing.

The teacher notices his stance, "You have balls, kid. I'll give it to you." he grins all toothy before raising the gun again, "...5...4... You know, you should tell me where they are. Shouldn't at least one of you get to live?"

Minho kept a firm expression, like a mountain who will not move against the wind.

"...3..."

Minho closed his eyes, really standing his ground. No words are slipping from this lips, first dead.

"...2..."

And it seems that's what's gonna happen.

Minho clutches his eyes closed, hands at his sides curled into trembling fists and knuckles turning white. _'Guys, I love you all. Mom, dad, Kira, Judge, I love you as well. You all are my family and for my family I will die protecting it.'_

"...1..."

Minho prayed for the safety of his pack and then there was a loud bang and Minho felt something warm and wet splatter across his face. After a moment, he opened his eyes to see that there was a big red hole in Mr. McKenna's forehead before said man fell down the ground, dead. Minho took a several small breaths, trying to calm his beating-like-crazy heart and take a moment that _'holyshit I almost died'_ before he looked over to see that there was someone wearing a hazmat suit by the door and holding a gun.

The person in the suit took a couple of steps into the room at the same time he tore off the helmet and revealed himself as Dick. The male human took a step forward, touching Minho's shoulder with his gloved hand and looked over his face in search for injuries.

"Are you alright?" Dick asks.

"I-I um, I-" he looks at the gun on Dick's hand, "Where did you come from? Why are you here?" he coughed.

"Okay, Minho, listen to me. Vince called me. I don't understand what's going on but I know that you guys are somehow involved and trying to help." as Minho tried to understand the _'I know you're somehow involved'_ , Dick continued, "Vince said that you might need backup inside the school since it's dangerous, that the person who did this may still be in the building. Where are Thomas and the others?"

"I don't know."

"Minho, trust-"

"No, it's not that! I really don't know! We separated! They- they needed to find the cure and Teresa and I stayed here."

"And where is she?"

"I told her to hide."

"Okay, let's go search for her and I'll keep you safe while Thomas finds the cure."

Before he's being brought towards the door to exit, Minho remembers Teresa's words. "There's another person involved in this!"

Dick stops as well and turns to him, "What?"

"Yes, not only Mr. McKenna here but another sub teacher! Evelyn Deavor!"

Dick nods, "Okay. We'll take care of that, but first Teresa. Now, go, go."

Dick gently presses a hand over his back to guide him towards the door and going around the corpse on the ground so he doesn't have to look at it. Minho doesn't even care about the dead man; he had been trying to kill his pack and him.

The Asian male is lead towards the door, going through it and leaving the dead man on the floor.

* * *

Still over the boiler room and looking at the bunker room, Thomas stands defeated in the middle of the room, staring at the seemingly non-existent door. Newt was leaning against one of the walls and trying his best to keep his eyes open to look at his dear Thomas. Gally and Rey were near the other side of the room while Aris stood at his side, the three of them looking at Thomas.

"I don't get it." Thomas says in a flat tone.

"What you don't get? It's a bunker. In the middle of the freaking boiler room! You want me to draw you a picture or what?"

As the two brunets complain about unnecessary stuff, Gally's legs start trembling and moments later he falls forwards and lands on his knees, doubled over in pain while coughing.

Thomas and Aris immediately stop their banter and run towards him, the werewolf putting a hand over his back to help him from falling and the brunet witch holding onto his forearm.

"Thomas..." he coughs again but manages to hold his head up, looking at one side before looking at the other with a frown.

Aris frowns with concern, watching as the tall blond holds out a hand to touch the nearest wall and resting his palm there. "Gally?"

"I-I can't see." he states while staring ahead and continues touching the wall, _"I can't see anything!"_

Thomas and Aris look at each other. Rey stands there by them.

"B-but- but how? How- you were fine! You were fine all day!" he stops for a moment to think about it, "Weren't you?"

Although Gally can't see it, he makes a guilty face.

Thomas stands up, "Oh God."

"By Merlin's _fucking_ beard, Gally! Are you mental or just plain stupid?! Why did you hide it from us?!"

"At first it was just a slight pinch."

Aris girths his teeth and pinches the blond's arm, gaining a yelp from the dragon.

"Ouch!"

" _'It was just a slight pinch'!_ " he mocks the other.

"Then, I don't know, I felt kinda weak, but I thought it had to do with the stress of the situation. When I coughed twice, I... Newt was our priority."

"And still is." Thomas says, "But that doesn't mean that you don't matter or that between saving you or Newt, you get cut out. We're saving both of you."

Aris takes a look at Gally to make sure that he won't fall down onto the ground before standing up and meeting with Thomas.

"We don't know how much time he has before he gets to Newt's state."

"But Newt can see."

"Yes, but Gally's not leaking that gooey stuff. Maybe it's different for every species, I don't know and I don't like it."

Thomas takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, and before releasing it, he stops and suddenly snaps his head to the other direction.

Rey frowns, "What?"

"I thought I heard something."

"You mean beside the sound of our friends dying?"

"I meant inside that room." Thomas says as he looks at the white bunker-like room.

* * *

Over one of the classrooms, Theo approaches the front of the room to where the teacher is and asks for permission to go to the bathroom as an excuse to actually go and search for his pack. The past minutes he's been feeling worse than before and he's also getting worried about the others, and that doesn't help in his condition. The side where he has the bruise that hasn't healed stings, and he's pretty sure that he's breathing with difficulty and looking a little pale.

After asking for the bathroom pass, the teacher looks up at him, "You don't look so good, son. You sure you don't want the doctors to see you?"

"Yeah, it's just..." he thinks about something to be excused from getting out of the classroom, "my allergies. I-I have to go take my medicine now."

"We have water here." the teacher says pointing at the unopened water bottles.

"I can't take it orally, sir."

The teacher makes an uncomfortable face -suits him right- and nods, handing over the bathroom pass.

Theo goes to the door and exits the classroom, almost stumbling if not for his somehow still active werewolf reflexes. He shakes his head and makes his way through the hallway, making sure not to attract any kind of attention to himself when suddenly he hears a noise and stops.

He looks around but doesn't see anything or anyone. He moves to hide behind a wall near at the corner and looks over at the hallway. Nothing.

Mentally sighing, Theo is about to take a step forward and continue his search for the pack when he's 'attacked' from behind, a hard body pressing against his back and one hand covering his mouth. Before he can react -so much for those reflexes- and try to defend himself against the threat, he relaxes when he sees that it's Minho the one holding him from behind, along with an adult he recognizes as agent Stark, and Teresa at his side holding his hand to calm him down.

Minho carefully removes his hand from his mouth but doesn't remove from Theo or let go of his bicep.

Theo frowns, _"The hell...!"_

"Shh! Gotta move."

"I'm never playing hide and seek with you two."

And he allows them to drag him away from peering eyes and somewhere safe.

* * *

Back at boiler room, Gally was sitting down with his back against the wall, arms resting over his knees and with Rey and Aris at his side, the witch gently patting his hair. His sight was not back yet.

On the other side of the room, Thomas had New lied on the ground as the witch had started feeling too weak to sit up straight and opted to be on the ground. Thomas was glued at his side, holding one of his hands in his own and occasionally bringing it up to kiss it in an attempt to make the witch feel better.

Thomas glanced back at Gally, Aris and Rey to make sure they were fine before looking back at Newt. He notices his closed eyes and panics a little, "Newt? Newt, I need you to stay up." he sits on his knees and shakes the witch a little, "Stay with me, stay with me."

"I feel cold..." he says while opening his eyes and laughing a little, "It's such a cliché, isn't it? I f-feel cold. Like in the cinema..."

Thomas frowns, "What?" he shakes his head, "Newt, you can rest a little but you can't close your eyes, okay? I'm trying to take as much pain as I can, but you can't fall asleep."

"Wait. That's not right." he licks his lips, slightly cleaning the black substance, "It's _'movies'_. Um, you say movies, n-not cinema." he chuckles with a trail of black blood dripping down his chin.

"Just try to relax."

"Why-why would you have a different word for-"

"All right, enough talking. Just- Just please..."

Newt lets out a deep breath, the first one since arriving at the boiler room, and manages to softly nod. Thomas nods back and kisses the back of his hand again.

Just a few seconds pass before Thomas holds his head up and looks at the direction of the 'door'. Softly resting Newt's hand on top of his other one over his belly, Thomas stands up and stares at the bunker.

"There's someone behind that door." he doesn't expect for someone to say something, so he continues, "I-I thought I heard something before but I definitely heard it again this time!"

"Thomas, not that I don't believe you, but don't you think that by now something should've happened already?" Aris questions aloud.

Thomas, being as stubborn as he is, moves towards the bunker until he's standing in front of the entrance, keeping his ears on alert just in case before holding his hand up and knocking twice on the 'door'.

The room is silent.

Aris gives him an incredulous look, " _Seriously_ , you just knocked on the door?"

Before Thomas can come up with something to say, the high-pitch sound of some electronic instrument is heard before moments later:

**_"Seriously, you just knocked on the door?"_ **

A female voice is heard over the room like if there were loudspeakers around them, clear and loud.

**_"I don't know if to be surprised by the audacity or to be embarrassed by the stupidity."_ **

"Usually with him is a little bit of both." Gally manages to say.

Thomas ignores that comment to mull on the fact that the voice -obviously coming from inside the room- is not only from the sub teacher Miss Deavor, but in fact, female.

"But... I thought Mr. McKenna-"

**_"Why? Because a woman couldn't do all this?"_ **

Aris intervenes, "Whoa, okay, psycho! Before you try to set the feminist movement clock back seventy years, tell us why are you doing this!"

**_"Do you actually expect me to give a super villain monologue about my evil plan to conquer the Earth?"_ **

"You'd be surprised with how often it's happened to us."

**_"Well, sorry to disappoint. I don't have an evil plan to conquer Earth or something so lame like that."_ **

"Then what is that you want?"

**_"Your kind dead."_ **

The room is once again silent.

Aris licks his lips, "Let's just agree that by this point we know that you know about magic, aside from the fact that you used a glamour to hide this place and that this virus only affects supernaturals. Why would you want us dead?"

**_"Because you're unnatural."_ **

"Oh no, you're one of those."

**_"'One of those'?"_ **

"People who hate what's different and when they can't accept it exists, they try to destroy it. Guess what, miss, I've been around for longer than you have and this is not my first hate rodeo, so why don't you just come out of there, give us the cure and we'll kill you."

"Don't you mean _'or'_?" Thomas pipes in.

Aris rolls his eyes, " _'OR'_ we'll kill you."

Laugher sounds through the room in which they're in, **_"Poor little witch, so naive."_** she starts talking in a taunting tone, **_"It must be painful to be immortal, isn't it? To know that no matter how long time goes by or with how many people you try to surround yourself, at the end you'll always be left behind. Because everyone dies and you end up alone."_**

Thomas can detect the sour scent coming from Aris even under all the smells emanating from the boiler.

"Listen, no one has to get hurt!"

 ** _"In that you're wrong, Bambi eyes."_** there's a pause, **_"They already have."_**

Thomas feels chills going down his spine at those words.

Rey steps up front, "I say we kick down that door and bring that bitch out for some answers."

Aris scoffs, "What are you gonna do? Huff and puff and you'll blow it up?"

Rey holds her fist up, "Vampire strength, remember?"

With that said and before anyone can stop her, the vampire ran towards the door, raising her fist back and high and slamming it against the door, a loud 'clank' sound resonating all around the room.

Rey stays with her fist against the door for a moment before flinching away in pain, cradling her injured hand.

_"Ooooouch!!"_

"It's a bunker, remember?" Aris mocks.

As the vampire takes a step back, still cradling her hand and shooting daggers at the bunker, Thomas steps closer, trying to find a weak spot or something.

**_"I'm starting to feel sorry for you, so let's do something. Let's make a deal, then?"_ **

Thomas and the others frown.

**_"You'll have noticed by now, witch, that you can't use any of your magic inside this room?"_ **

"Since I stepped in here." Aris answers.

**_"Then you know that you can't use any spell to try to enter this room, since only from the inside can be opened once it's sealed. But I'll be so kind as to do something to help you."_ **

"You'll open the door?"

**_"No. I'm not stupid. Once I open the door, one of you monsters will try to attack me and might even kill me."_ **

Thomas was going to argue that they weren't going to hurt her, but he wasn't so sure about Rey. Or himself.

**_"No, I'll do you one better: I'll give you the cure."_ **

A strange feeling, a mix of hope and uncertainty, started blooming over Thomas' chest, but he wasn't sure to which one to hear.

"Just like that." Aris says.

**_"Just like that."_ **

Rey turns to look at the werewolf, "Thomas, it must be a trap."

But Thomas really doesn't havemuch choice around here; he can hear the harbored breathing coming from Newt and the rapid beating of Gally's heart.

"What must we do?"

**_"Over the far corner of the wall, you might notice that there's a slight bump. If you press on it, a access control will appear. You'll require the four-digit access code to open this door, and I can give it to you... But first, you must do something for me."_ **

"What do you want?"

**_"One of your little group is infected. I require his life for the code."_ **

No.

Thomas looks at where Newt is, lying on the floor and breathing slowly. He feels his wolf growling and he turns back to the door, "W-why do you want his life for?!"

**_"He's been infected to the point where the cure might not even work for him anymore, and I'm not going to open this door, give you the cure only for it not to work and for you to kill me when it doesn't."_ **

"But it might work if we hurry! The cure is in that room! It's right there!"

**_"I'm sorry, but it's a risk I cannot take."_ **

Thomas feels like growling and snarling until he can smell the scent of fear coming through the door, but instead he hears the collective heart-skip coming from the ones in the room with him.

"Thomas."

No.

Thomas slowly turns around to look -like the others- at the blond witch as he slowly manages to push himself on his hands and knees, taking a deep breath before attempting to stand up. It's torturously to watch but Thomas can't find it in himself to move. He can just watch as Newt manages to stand up with trembling legs, using a hand against the wall for support.

"Thomas, y-you have to do it."

Thomas shakes his head, "No."

"Otherwise, many people will die! Including our friends!"

"Newt-" Aris tries but Newt shakes his head.

"It's- It's okay..." he turns his glassy eyes to where the others are, "If this is what it will take to save your lives, t-to save everyone's lives then... I'll gladly do it."

"But we don't want you to." Gally says while on his hands and knees.

"I know. It's what I want."

"Newt-" Aris cuts off himself, hearing how broken his voice sounds, "Please, don't- There must be another way, there's always another way."

Newt ignores all of their pleas and turns to look at Thomas, who hasn't moved or said a word since he turned to look at Newt.

"Thomas..."

The werewolf flinches but doesn't look at the witch. He can't.

Newt starts slowly to make his way towards him, "I-I know that what I'm asking for must be horrible for you to hear and I.. I know that if our positions were reversed, I would not like it either... but you know that- that that door will not open otherwise." he stumbles a little as he reaches Thomas' side, and the werewolf immediately catches him, his hands clawing at Newt's back as the witch moves his hands to his shoulders.

There are now black stains all over the front of Thomas' shirt and the stench of sorrow is too potent that you can almost taste it.

"And I also know that if our roles were reversed, you would be trying to do the same thing I'm doing." his body trembles some more but Thomas' hands are holding him up, "Which is why you have to understand how I feel right now, and how much this is hurting me to ask of you..." there are tears running down Thomas' cheeks but he doesn't do anything to move.

Newt notices that Thomas is avoiding looking at him to not break, so he moves his hands from Thomas' shoulders to cup his cheeks and making the werewolf finally look at him.

Thomas can see Newt's eyes and he notices his eyes were clearer than before and then his voice softened,

"Please, Tommy... please."

Thomas gasps and leans forward so his forehead is now pressing against Newt's. The two of them have their eyes closed and holding onto each other, so close that they can breathe the same air.

Thomas presses his forehead a little harder against Newt's as he opens his mouth,

"I love you."

Thomas then let go of Newt and turns around, facing the bunker and the door, his eyes glowing yellow as he makes a fist of his hand and throws a punch against the door, just like Rey had done before.

Everyone is startled by that.

Thomas brings his arm back and punches it again, and again and again.

"Tommy!"

"Thomas, what are you doing?!"

But Thomas doesn't hear any of them, just keeps punching the door, the sounds of a wounded animal escaping through his lips with every punch. Blood was starting to pour from the broken skin of his knuckles, leaving stains and droplets of blood on the door.

"Thomas, you'll break your bones at this rate! Stop!" Gally yells.

Thomas throws two more punches before a loud crack resonates around the room. Thomas howls as he brings his broken arm backto his chest, looking at it as blood drip down from his fingers before he changes it to use the other arm and reassumes punching.

The others can just watch as Thomas continues punching the door with his left hand while his right arm was braced against his chest, his healing already kicking in and working on healing his arm so that when he breaks the other, he can switch.

The only sounds in the room are no longer the screams and pleas of the pack, but of punches against metal, small cracks of bones crunching under the pressure of Thomas' strength, mixed with labored and pained grunts and splattering of blood.

Just as Thomas is starting to feel numbness on his left hand, a small dent appears on the place where the werewolf kept punching.

The door was giving in.

 ** _"Tell him to stop! Stop! Jesus fuck- stop him!"_** her voice sounded scared.

"One thing that you should know about Thomas is that once he sets his mind on something, no power on Earth will get him to stop." Aris says, "Eventually, he'll tear that door out of its hinges, and you'll wish you'd have opened the door when we asked nicely."

A minute later, Thomas takes two steps back, falling to his knees and grunting while pressing his bloodied hands close to his chest as he feels the pump of adrenaline running through his veins so harsh that he feels that he could probably smash his head against the door to continue, but keeping enough sanity to know better. The adrenaline is also keeping him from feeling the tearing pain and throbbing from his hands, which he considers a good thing right now.

Thomas keeps his eyes over the blood splattered door and the clear-as-day dent in the center of it. He's sure that if goes another roundonce his hands are healed, he'll be able to bend it enough to even break it. He's concentrating on his body healing and keeping his eyes on the target above the pain when the sound of a body dropping to the ground breaks the concentration.

Thomas turns to his left and watches Newt's body lying on the ground and alarms go off in his head. Ignoring the pain, he crawls over the blond witch and carefully turns him around and places him so he's half-leaning against him.

Aris looks from them to the door.

If Newt dies, Thomas will tear the door open with his teeth.

There is a moment of complete silence and dread when suddenly the strangely similar noise of the 'access granted' sound fills the room and ([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBlFp2__XtM)) Thomas and the others turn to look at the bunker before seconds later the door unlocks.

Thomas softly lies Newt down before pushing the rest of the door open, rushing into the room and finding it empty, no one there. He decides to worry about that later, right now there are more important things.

He finds the serum in several small tubes that also worked as syringes on top of a desk. He grabs a few and turns to Rey, standing beside him, and offers her one. Rey takes the serum while watching Thomas, perfectly knowing what to do with this one.

"Go."

Rey doesn't lose any more time and, with a nod, does as she's told.

Thomas rushes back to where Newt is and -after putting down the tubes on the ground- he kneels on the ground to bring Newt's body closer to him, so the witch is almost resting his body on Thomas' lap. He carefully rolls up the sleeve and ignoring the dark veins running over his arm, he injects the serum into his arm and waits.

Aris grabs one of the tubes, runs past the werewolf and goes to where Gally was on the floor, blood running down his nose and injects it into his body and with both hands cups Gally's face while waiting.

_If you love me, don't let go_

_If you love me, don't let go_

Newt's eyes continue closed and Thomas fears for a moment before the witch gasps loudly, eyes opening wide and even trying to lift his upper body a little.

Thomas exhales in relief as he watches the witch's eyes seem to clear before they return to their beautiful color. The black veins slowly start to disappear from his body, like they had never been there. He turns to look at Thomas and a small but sincere smile appears over his face.

Gally also starts to wake up, coughing a little while Aris starts crying, tears going down his face. The dragon blinks a few times before raising a hand to Aris' face and cupping his cheek, feeling the wetness and warmth under his palm. Aris feels his pulse and that's enough for him.

Rey was running as fast as she could without her super-speed through the hospital, ignoring all the looks and calls of _'don't run in a hospital!'._ She ran until she got to Alec's room.

She pushes her way through the two nurses standing at the door and quickly after entering the room, -not caringanything- she launches herself at the bed, taking the syringe and injecting the serum into Alec's body.

Rey takes a step back and waits.

The serum is slowly spreading through his body, causing pain from the inside but not visible on the outside; his body keeps still although on the inside it's twirling and burning and healing.

The dark eyebags underneath his eyes slowly start to disappear. His hair gets a little bit brighter and cleaner-looking than before. His skin tone takes another route: instead of looking like lack of skin pigment and illness, it starts changing into pale and porcelain-like skin, looking healthy enough to be considerate 'fair'.

They all stay still, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen after injecting the cure.

Rey keeping her ears attentive to Alec's heartbeat as this suddenly comes to a stop and moments later Alec's eyes flash open to show blood-colored eyes ([x](https://66.media.tumblr.com/93dcf7da73c33df94ed91a88308bf4a0/b6a01e7631f6030e-69/s250x400/0c12b68072eb23e0a7aaf4d40f173b35f0036188.gifv)).

Alec blinks one more time before being aware of his surroundings and before he can do anything, he has an armful of Rey, who threw herself at him, clutching his clothes and hiding her face into his neck, her whole body trembling.

Alec just closes his eyes and hugs her back, slowly caressing her hair while muttering _'It's okay, everything's okay'_. while the nurses clap and cry happily at the 'miracle' that they just witnessed.

Alec continues comforting the young vampire who wouldn't let go of her strong grip on him. Rey kept her head buried on his neck, inhaling his aroma of withered flowers and home.

* * *

Aris was helping Gally stand up straight, arm slung over his shoulders, and walking towards where Thomas and Newt were, still on the ground. Thomas was sitting on the ground and had Newt half-way up on his lap, wrapped safely in his arms while his chin rested over the witch's shoulder, eyes shut closed. Newt also had his arms around the other but his eyes were both open and one of his hands was caressing Thomas' hair when Gally and Aris approached them.

Newt looked up sheepish at the other two and then at Thomas, "Tommy, you can let go now."

Thomas shakes his head, holding the witch tighter, "If I open my eyes, this may not be real."

Aris stares at the werewolf wrapped around Newt like a blanket before he casually stretches his leg to lightly kick Thomas on the side, gaining a yelp.

"Ouch!"

"Real."

The werewolf glares at the brunet witch but reluctantly allows Newt to separate a couple of inches. Thomas stands up and offers his now healed -although still bloodied- hands to Newt to help him get up; the witch smiles as he holds onto them and is gently pulled up.

"Now we have to get the cure to the others." Gally says while holding up one of the tubes.

"I don't know how are we gonna be able to convince the CDC that he somehow we manage to get our hands on the cure without ending like the main suspects."

While looking around the room to be able to get a better look than when he first walked in, Newt notices the big red sprinkle control assembly and after a moment of mulling over it, realizes something.

"The fire sprinklers." he murmurs.

"What?"

Aris follows where Newt is staring and he gets the same idea.

"There are fire sprinklers in every classroom- Newt, you're a genius! Thomas!" the werewolf looks at him, and Aris gives him the tube, "Go over there! That's the master valve! Open it!"

Thomas quickly goes to where he's indicated and opens the red valve; once he does, another compartment of the system opens. Thomas pushes the metallic lid up and can clearly see the clear water flowing through the whole fire sprinkler system.

"They use it to check the pH from water, Thomas! Now, pour the cure into the water supply."

Thomas turns to look at him, like asking him is he's sure.

"Now, Thomas!"

Thomas looks at the tube he has in his hand and closing his hand for a moment and then closing his eyes, he prays: _'God, I hope this works!'_ before pouring the cure down the water and watches as it flows along the water.

Closing the respective lids, the werewolf takes a step back away from the big red.

"Now... we have to wait for someone to start a fire?" Gally wonders.

Curious how the sentence 'start a fire' jumpstarts Thomas' brain.

"Minho!"

Thomas quickly rescued his phone out of his jeans and after realizing that the phones were working now, he dialed Minho's number.

A moment later, the line picked up, _"Thomas, you better have a hell good excuse of why the hell I haven't heard from neither of you in a long time!"_

"Minho, we have the cure!"

_"...That's a hell good excuse."_

* * *

([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CJCOOMATT4&feature=youtu.be)) In an empty classroom, Teresa was standing on the tip of her toes on top of a desk holding a lighter under the fire sprinkler. Minho and Theowatching her while Dick had his back at them.

"I'm not looking, so technically I'm not here."

Teresa continues stretching all the way up until finally the fire sprinkles activate and water starts falling.

_Christmas_

Everyone, the students and CDC agents alike, were surprised by the fire alarm working and soon they all started getting wet.

Blinking while confused, the students raised their hands to the air and some of them found themselves smiling. The ones who were too weak to move opened their eyes and felt the drops of water on their cheeks.

Instead of screaming because this could mean fire in the building, the students just started laughing: laughing at their friends ruined makeup, at the fact that the exams were definitely over for today, and that this made this horrible day just a little bit better.

Slowly but surely, the serum was being absorbed through the skin of the affected, and it started to spread into the body. The not-immune blinked a few more times, suddenly finding the strength to stand up although with some help of their friends. Their friends were happy as they started looking better.

The CDC agents looked also relieved as it appeared that this virus was starting to disappear somehow and the patients were feeling better.

Minho and Teresa high-fived with Dick under the water in glee.

The police and parents waiting outside the school kept looking at the silent school, feeling like holding their breath for whatever that might happen.

Suddenly, the school doors opened and out came the teenagers.

The look on their parents was one of pure relief as they ran towards their kids, ignoring the yellow police line and opening their arms as they were embraced by their kids.

Dick crossed the door along with Minho and Teresa, -Theo on the back-, both his hands over their backs as they made their way down the steps and towards the hoard of parents.

Minho was able to locate his dad and he ran towards him, face still covered with blood. The older man embraced his son and held him tight, only separating when noticing the blood and looking worried. From afar, Dick saw as Minho explained something to him and Kenneth -Minho's dad- looked relieved. Minho then pointed towards where Dick was and his father's eyes followed the movement; once he saw Dick, a gratefullook appeared on his face. Kenneth nodded at Dick as in a _'thank you'._ Dick nodded back.

Teresa ran from Dick's side and towards her parents. Her mom hugged her, her hands clutching her dark hair desperately.

The police and CDC agents watched as the teenagers reunited with their families. This nightmare was finally over and that was what mattered.

* * *

From the under tunnels, Miss Deavor made her escape away from the school and towards freedom. She tore her glasses away and started running towards the woods; luckily the foliage would hide her until it became too dark to search for anyone and by then she'll be long gone.

As she's making her way deep into the woods, tumbling a little because of her heels, a bright light appears a few meters ahead of her, stopping her in a halt. The bright light opens a portal and while squinting her eyes because of the light and wind, two men dressed in black suddenly come out of it and take two steps closer to her.

"Evelyn Deavor?"

The woman just stares with confusion written over her face but neitherless nods.

The two men nod at each other and move to either side of her to grab her by the shoulders and pull her towards the portal, all while the woman was still confused at what was happening. They crossed the portal and seconds later the portal closed and disappeared, leaving the woods quiet again.

* * *

At the hospital, Rey was leaning against the reception counter, waiting for Alec to dress in his room so they could leave and go back home. Suddenly, a nurse went around counter and grabbed some papers to put on top of the counter and in front of Rey. The vampire girl looked at them and then at the nurse.

"Sorry to disturb you, kid, but if you're so kind to sign your uncle's discharge papers that would be lovely, dear."

Rey nods, "Okay,"

Rey grabbed the papers from the nurse as the woman smiled at her and left to go to another patient. Rey tapped the pen against the counter while giving it a quick read because she knew the usual formularies they gave at hospital, so no biggie. She wrote Alec's name and when she reached the next part where her name was, she wrote 'Audrey' and then her hand stopped mid-air.

She blinked a few times, looking down and staring at the paper that said that she had to put her name over there because she was the one who was signing for Alec to be released.

Automatically, she would've wrote her name and that's it. End of the story. But there's a reason why she stopped her hand before the pen could touch the paper.

Glancing back at the hall where Alec's room is, and after everything that's been happening these past days and especially these past hours, Rey has no doubts about what she has to do.

Looking back at the discharge papers, a smile appears over her face as she signs the paper the way she needs to:

**_'Audrey West-Montgomery'_ **

* * *

Because of everything that happened with the virus -which the CDC hadn't been able to identify or classify but decided to give it a rest since it suddenly disappeared and every single person afflicted by the virus was now healed-, the school decided to cancel the exams, with almost everyone happy and celebrating about it, but not so happy for the ones who studied their assess off. But hey, there's gotta be a silver lining in almost dying in an outbreak at your school, right?

Alec was much better now -if being undead is considered a good thing-, and from Rey's smile and good mood the rest of the week, they both had a talk about the adoption and it appears that she was gonna have the best Christmas gift.

Newt was almost grounded for hiding the fact that he had been infected with the virus and almost dying from his mom, but Thomas can understand the feeling. He too would kinda want to ground Newt if he had hidden all of this from him.

The day after the outbreak, Teresa woke up to find that her arm wasn't hurting and after checking it, she saw that the words were almost completely vanished, almost as if they hadn't been there at all. Aris used a spell to help make it totally disappear, but she still had to use bandages to not explain her mom how is it that the carved words 'magically' disappeared from one day to another. She thinks that it had been a Banshee omen or something like that, which is why it disappeared after all ended.

When the police went to investigate Mr. McKenna's apartment, they found all the evidence to link him to the virus outbreak and the murder of the infected supernatural teenagers -although that special knowledge wasn't known to local authorities. But even after they could put the blame on him, there were still no signs of Miss Deavor. The address she had on her files at the school were all fake and no one had seen her since the start of the day of the outbreak.

It was as if she just vanished in thin air.

The mistletoe poisonings around the town were also cause of Mr. McKenna and Miss Deavor; they went around, poising some random people first so when the virus was once released, people wouldn't put two and two together. The effects of the poisoning were similar to that of the virus, so nobody really made that connection before.

A couple of days later, Thomas and Minho were over Minho's room, both of them lying on the bed opposite to the other, with Thomas' feet near Minho's head and viceversa. They both had their eyes looking at the ceiling while talking to each other.

"I swear, I don't know who kissed me more: my mom or Judge." Minho said.

"To be fair, Judge could probably smell your fear."

"That's fair." and then after a beat, "Hey, there are still a few days before Christmas. Maybe we can do something, you know, the pack, to celebrate or some shit."

"You just want an excuse to be with everyone and eat."

"Well, you know my stuff: mingle and pringles."

Thomas hits him with a pillow with no strength at all, earning a chuckle from the other male.

Minho grabs the pillow and hugs it to his chest, keeping his eyes on the ceiling after there was a moment of silence. Thomas also noticed the silence.

"You wanna go out somewhere?"

Minho shook his head, "Naah, if you don't mind, I just wanna lie here with my best friend for a while."

Thomas smiled at those words because damn, he wanted that too. But even though he was together with his best friend and the rest of the pack was safe and sound, Thomas still wondered what could've happened to Miss Deavor.

* * *

In a sterile interrogation room look-like, Miss Deavor was sitting over a stainless and cold chair all by herself. Hair disheveled in a loose high-ponytail, scratches and scraps over her knees, legs, forearms and one over her cheek from the branches and sticks in the woods. The heel of one of her heels was broken and muddy.

While waiting for something to happen, she kept tapping the metal table with her acrylic nails when a noise startled her before she realized it was only the noise of the heavy door opening.

A man dressed in dark grey entered the room, carrying some papers in his hand as two armed guards entered as well, taking positions one near the door and the other at the far end of the room. They were dressed in some black tactical uniform and wearing black eye shield visors and tight faces. Not people you want to meddle with, apparently.

The man sat opposite of Miss Deavor, putting down the papers in front of him and not looking up at her once.

But she wasn't up for this theatre, "What is this? Some new form of interrogation or intimidation? From what branch of the government are you exactly?"

Finally, the man looks up at her, "All you need to know is that we don't depend on the government, ma'am. The Council's attention was caught by you and Doctor McKenna's experiments that although slightly unorthodox they seem to have achieved something useful for everyone."

That seems to take her by surprise.

"So you're not gonna arrest me?"

"No, ma'am."

She crosses her arms in front of her, "And why do you need me for?"

"Because since Doctor McKenna is out of commission, you're the only one able to recreate the virus."

"You want me to help you recreate the killer virus?"

"No, ma'am. We want to help _you_ enhance the killer virus."

Miss Deavor looks a little suspicious at the man, but her moral compass is not exactly the most marvelous so shrugs and she nods. What does she have to lose anyways?

The interrogator turns to look at the big glass on the other side of the room, almost as if he were looking at someone on the other side.

From the other side of the mirror, one of the guards turns to look at a blonde woman wearing all white and in heels, standing in front of the mirror while watching the interrogation; the red of her lips contrasting with the white of her outfit. The woman nods once before turning around -face not shown- and walking towards the exit door of that room.

* * *

([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is4NQkUN3AI))

After the sun came down, the members of the pack were at their respective houses.

Thomas watched amused from the living room as Mary send Vince go and buy dinner after accidentally burning it. The older man gave Thomas a look and seeing the joy on his face for his misery, he threw the keys to the werewolf -who caught them- and told him to go instead. Thomas didn't protest and once outside his house, he decided to take the chance of going out to do something else.

Teresa sat over the kitchen counter, watching as her mom danced as she cooked while her dad approached her from behind, using the shakers as maracas and moving his hips while trying to follow the rhythm of the music playing on the radio.

At their apartment, Alec was taking out the meat from the fridge and putting it over the fancy plates on the counter as Rey danced behind him over the living room, Chairman Meow on her arms, and the two of them waited for the food to be ready.

Over Newt's house, the blond witch was sitting at the dinner table with his mom and grandma, the three of them holding hands with their eyes closed as they prayed to the Holy spirits for a good night, and with their combined magic they made the candles over the table levitate.

Newt opens his eyes as he feels a presence outside the house and excuses himself to check. He gets to the window and moves the curtain aside to take a look outside and sees someone standing on the sidewalk.Once finally noticed, Thomas smiles as he opens his arms wide as if saying 'surprise' and Newt finds himself smiling at his boyfriend's silliness.

Minho was over his living room, carrying Kira over his back as they both laughed as he twirling them around while Judge jumped around them and barked happily.

Theo came out of his bathroom after his shower with no shirt on, no signs of bruises over his body as he pulled on a shirt. He grabbed his car keys and headed out.

At the mansion, Gally and Aris were over the kitchen when the doorbell rang and Brennan came downstairs and went to open. The door opened and Thomas and the others were on the other side, happy faces and smiles as they were welcomed inside, the hugging and laughter immediately happening between the members of the pack.

There was joy in the air once more.

* * *

Music was playing over the mansion, Christmas decorations all around the place, the smell of pine and food mingled, the big Christmas tree over the living room with well-wrapped gifts underneath. It was like a private party for the pack.

Rey, Theo and Brennan were over the couch, the latter two listening to some story Rey was telling them about Chairman Meow chewing on the bathroom mat.

Thomas, Minho and Teresa were standing in the dining room near the table with food on it, Thomas holding two cups -one was Newt's- while standing opposite of Minho and Teresa and chattering with them. Minho was holding a bowl of chips on his arm while listening to his best friend. Teresa was standing beside him and occasionally grabbing a chip or two from his bowl.

Gally walked past Newt, who was returning from the bathroom and they smiled at each other before continuing their way: Newt went to stand to Thomas' side, the werewolf giving him his drink before his arm went around the witch, holding him protectively as they both now listened to Teresa talk, along with Minho.

Gally smiled at them and went to his way towards the kitchen and reaching the backdoor, temporally leaving the mansion and making his way towards the woods.

After walking and getting further into the woods, he shuddered a little because of the cold and looked up at the night sky and the moon illuminating his way.

"Chilly night, don't you think?"

Gally turns around, apparently not surprised that the witch followed him here. Or maybe he heard him come; damn that dragon hearing.

"A little, but nothing I can't handle."

"Party boring for you?" Aris asked as he got closer.

"Mm? Not at all. You?"

"Please, I've been to dozens of parties in all my life. I've been in more than one that didn't play music."

"Really?"

"More. Than. One."

Gally chuckles, shaking his head a little.

"So what brought you here?"

The taller one shrugs, "Just thinking. These past days were heavy. Fortunately, we were able to save the day at the last moment, better late than never, but... you know. It was close. Really, really close. We could've died."

"Like always."

"Yeah, I know but- I don't know how to put it. I know that we're constantly risking our lives and putting ourselves in these kind of positions but to be honest? I never really though any of us would die. And the other day?" he heaves, "Newt almost died."

Aris takes a step closer, "But he's fine. You're fine. Alec's fine, we're all fine."

"Yeah, and I'm glad. I'm happy... But what if it hadn't turned out like that? Not all of us would have been able to say goodbye to Newt. Or- or if I had gotten worse, I wouldn't have been able to see Brennan again. What do we do with something like that?"

Aris just stares at him, not really knowing what to say in this situation, so instead he decides to do something else.

Gally feels a tug on the back of his hoodie and turns around to find the witch holding out a small present wrapped in cartoon dragons gift wrapper over to him.

After a moment of stillness, Gally accepts it and looks over at the witch,

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. Me yelling _'It's not Christmas yet'_ must be your ringtone by now but I thought that because after all that happened these past days, it would be better not to wait for a 'tomorrow', if you know what I mean."

Gally decides to not question the witch's good gesture and opts to carefully tear the wrap paper away to reveal a cardboard box. He opens it and inside he finds a golden chain with a small cross with the Luna Nova motto written inside.

"I know that you're not the jewelry type, even if all that armor you use and the swords say otherwise, but I thought that since you're fond of that place," he shrugs shyly, "maybe you'd like it."

"Yeah, I do." Aris gives him a look with a slight smirk, "Not the jewelry part, but the like it one. I like it." he grabs the necklace and puts it around his neck. The cross shining under the moonlight. "Thanks,"

The two of them stare at each other and for a moment the chilly wind is not a thing right now. There's no other sound but the ones of their breathing and the occasional tree branches swinging with the air.

The moment is interrupted by the night sky illuminating with several shapes and colors, accompanied by the quiet night air being disrupted by the explosions of the fireworks.

"Who in sweet Satan's name has started with the fireworks now! _IT'S NOT CHRISTMAS YET!_ " Aris yells at top lung and at high-pitch tone that he's sure dogs along with Thomas and Theo would be able to hear him.

Aris puffs, an angry look on his face as he turns around to Gally only to find the taller male already looking at him with a serene and tender look in his eyes.

Aris raises an eyebrow, "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that you looked... cute."

"...You think I'm cute while I'm pissed off?"

Gally shrugs but doesn't say anything, like there's nothing else to explain.

Aris opens his mouth but when nothing comes out, he turns his face away, but Gally's pretty sure that the red of his face is not because of the cold, but he'll let it slide for now.

"You said what to do with something like that." Aris suddenly says, turning to face the other, "You don't bury it deep inside you and pretend it doesn't exist; You accept that it can happen and therefore spend as much time you can surrounded by people you love."

Now is Gally's turn to not say anything; he simply nods.

The two of them then get ready to go back to the party, turning around back on their tracks when Gally suddenly almost tumbles over and stops, blinking a few times.

Aris notices and stops walking as well, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just, got a little dizzy for a moment."

Aris frowns and that's when he notices the glowing stuff sticking out Gally's neck that definitely wasn't there before. Now that he looks over it, it's tiny and it almost looks like it had been injected in his neck.

"Wha-" Gally closes his eyes, feeling dizzy once more and his body heavier, trying to bring a hand to his neck.

Aris takes a step towards him,

"Gally-"

But suddenly, before he can take another step closer, an electromagnetic pulse of some kind sends a wave that end up throwing Aris up through the air, away and landing harsh on the ground.

As the witch groans at the slight pain over his side and attempting to get on his hands and knees, some lights appear over the sky and the sound of an engine is heard moments before a big metallic vessel appears flying above them.

The lights make it impossible to see more of the vessel. Aris watches a metallic claw lowering, grabbing the unconscious Gally and lifting him up from the ground; they then start to fly away with Gally along.

"GALLY!"

Aris quickly got on his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain and the trembling legs and ran after the vessel.

"GALLY!!"

Holding his hand up and pointing at the vessel, he tries to use his magic to save Gally but when nothing happens, he looks down at his wrist and finds the cuff on.

Cursing everything and everyone, he decides to ditch the magic and continue running after the vessel as this continues to go on deeper into the woods -or would it be over the woods?

"GALLY!! GALLY!!"

Unfortunately, his legs can't seem to stand too much running and he ends up falling to the ground; he gasps as he tries to move but his body won't cooperate, so he only manages to get on his knees.

Aris raises his head, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, heart violently thumping inside his ribcage as he watches in despair how the vessel continues to get farther away with Gally on its clutch until a portal opens and it goes right through it, finally leaving and the portal closing moments after and disappearing as well.

All meanwhile the fireworks are still illuminating the night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maan, these cliffhangers are nice, right :D
> 
> Don't kill me!!! I love you all and hope that you can wait for the next season!!!! Be safe!!  
> (I tried to upload this chapter in three different laptops and they all kept failing me, so I didn't had time to check this; if there's any mistakes please let me know!)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little reminder/help:
> 
> Brennan Castellan (face claim: Dylan Sprayberry)  
> Audrey "Rey" West: (face claim: Crystal Reed)  
> Theo Greyson: (face claim: Cody Christian)  
> Alexander "Alec" Montgomery (face claim: Grant Gustin)  
> Richard "Dick" Stark (face claim: Stephen Amell)


End file.
